


Seasons

by earphaughtolympus



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, F/F, F/M, Slow Burn Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Twelve Gods of Olympus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Wynonna Earp & Nicole Haught Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:38:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 30,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24500173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earphaughtolympus/pseuds/earphaughtolympus
Summary: Do you believe in mythology? The kind with gods, heroes, and monsters. If not, you will come to believe; if so, you will know that everything is true. Waverly Gibson discovered this in the most unusual way possible, diving into a completely new world, full of dangers, monsters, and the worst, having to deal with Nicole Haught, an annoying, beautiful and arrogant daughter of Zeus. What she didn't know was that alongside Nicole and her new friends from Camp Half-Blood, she would become the center of a history filled with adventure, mystery, and romance.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp/Doc Holliday
Comments: 29
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Estações](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/628066) by Ale Sinclair. 



Waverly's P.O.V.

Until the beginning of that morning, I considered myself a normal teenager. Ok, certain things always pointed to the other direction, but until that moment, I thought I was only a normal girl with a terrible luck of always being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

I was a 16-year-old girl, wishing what every teenager at that age does. No, not boyfriends. It was too hard for me to keep a relationship with someone when I was moving all the time. Truthfully, the thing I always wanted the most were friends. But, that was never possible.

I always tried to be "perfect" and do the right thing because I never wanted my mom to be disappointed at me. As a writer, Mama had always worked really hard and wasted most of her money paying our moves to other places. The thing is, she isn't really my mom. Michelle married my father when I was really young and after he showed up dead, things got really hard for us. 

And everything just seemed to get harder as I got older, especially when I was diagnosed with dyslexia and hyperactivity. I could never focus on class and I used to see and feel really "weird" things, that no one could explain.

This last year had been amazing. I had only had three detentions, wasn't expelled from the new school, and the summer was about to begin. I hadn't felt like I was being followed in a week and that was supposed to be a normal day, like always. But it wasn't. 

That day, I met Wynonna at the school’s parking lot. But who's Wynonna? Wynonna Earp was my best friend. The person with the best sense of humor I have ever met. She, just like me, also had problems with being focused, which helped me accept my conditions in a much easier way.

"You're late, like always..." Wynonna teased as soon as she saw me.

"Leave me the fuck alone please." 

"You're always so delicate, Waves! You surprise me every day." She said while we entered the school and started walking to our classes. "Have you told your mom we're going out tonight?"

"I did. She wasn't really happy about it, but she said it was okay as long as we're home at 11 PM. Do we really have to go though?"

"Of course! I really need to drink and escape reality a little..."

"I know you do but-" My thoughts were cut off. Suddenly, my body bumped into something (or someone) and I fell on the ground. I looked up, still not understanding what had happened but when I saw that the reason why I had fallen was Nicole Haught, I got mad. REALLY mad.

"Can you please look where you're going? Oh right, I forgot. You’re simply a bitch who doesn't care!" I said after getting up with Wynonna's help.

"Well sweetheart, if you could just shut up for once in your life, you would avoid a lot of disasters like this." Nicole said after winking at me. 

Until then, everything was still normal. Nicole Haught annoying me with her presence was something that happened really often. No one really knew much about her, only that it was best to stay away from her. I would do that without hesitating, but unfortunately, Wynonna was her friend. To this day, I still wonder how that happened. Wynonna was a great friend, but Haught? She was the living hell.

"Nonna, I have to speak to you during lunch, find me?" Nicole said and didn't wait for a response before leaving.

I looked at Wynonna hoping she would tell me what this was all about, but she never did. That's how it always happened. Nicole would show up and basically summon Wynonna for something. Sometimes she would come back hurt or really tired but no matter what, she never told me anything.

"Nope, not telling you." She said. The bell rang. "Let's go Waves, my chemistry class awaits."

During the whole class, I tried to pretend like I was paying attention, but at the same time, trying to convince myself not to be mad at my best friend for disappearing with the redhead almost every day. After all, Wynonna was the only person that really knew Nicole Haught, that knew the real person behind that attitude and rudeness. And I, had to trust my friend.

Lunchtime came after an amazing history class, my favorite. I was walking to the cafeteria when I saw them sneaking out through a hallway. I knew that following them wasn't right, but I had to. Besides, how could they blame me for being worried about my best friend?

I followed them to an abandoned building, that was still connected to the school, but no one actually used it. They sat by the old swimming pool and started talking.

"It probably isn't that big of a deal Haught!" Wynonna said bored. "Last week you said Ms. Turner could be a dracaenae and even though I really think she looks like one, she could also just really be an old lady." 

"There's something wrong Earp, I can feel it!" Nicole said while walking in circles. "Last month we had that attack and I almost died because you said the day before that it wasn't a big deal" She stopped and pointed her finger at the brunette. "None of that would have happened if you had just listened to me!"

Wynonna got up. "I'm sorry, ok? I couldn't get another detention, I was really close to being expelled!" 

What kind of conversation was that? Attack? Dracaenae? I furrowed my eyebrows while trying to understand what the fuck was going on.

"I think Waverly Gibson is involved." The redhead said out of nowhere.

What? How was involved? I had no idea what they were talking about.

Wynonna started to get angry. "She's probably just a normal human who's sensible to the mist. I've been by her side for all these years and nothing important happened. She's just an unlucky girl who has some weird conditions. Wave's already 16, almost 17. If something was supposed to happen, it already should've happened. That's the rule."

"You know damn well that they don't care about rules! If they did, we wouldn't even exist, right?" Nicole was also starting to lose her patience.

"Oh, I'm sorry thunder princess, am I making you mad?"

"Shut up!" Nicole screamed. Wynonna continued to tease her and Nicole said "No, really, shut up! I think there's someone here."

My heart started beating faster and I thought they were going to find me. I was planning an escape route when suddenly, big and hairy arms grabbed me and lifted me up from the floor. Screams were leaving my mouth although I wasn't even understanding what was going on.

"I finally found her!" The man who had me screamed repeatedly.

When I looked up, I could recognize who was holding me. It was the school's new janitor. I was sure I had never been so scared.

"Let her go!" Nicole shouted at the man. Wynonna was now on her side and looking at me terrified.

"No! I will end both of you and then take this one to my Master!" He threw me against some boxes that were in the corner of the room. 

My back and my ankle were hurting but I couldn't even process it. The janitor grew bigger, and he was looking scarier and stronger.

Nicole didn't let that intimidate her. The opposite, actually. Her eyes started glowing like there were sparkles on them and she took out from her pocket a lighter, pointing it to the monster like it was a gun.

"Last chance!" She screamed.

Wynonna realized that the man/monster was distracted and came to me. "Wave, listen. Haught's gonna distract the laistrygonian so we can escape."

"The laist- what? Nonna, what's… what's going on?" 

At that point, my head was a mess and I couldn't think straight. Everything seemed to get worse when Nicole's lighter slowly turned into a sword. And not one of those you buy on toy stores or see in movies. It was a REAL sword. Wynonna was trying to pull me but my body was petrified. How could any of this be real?

Nicole hold the sword like she knew exactly what she was doing and I could swear I saw small electricity sparkles wrap the blade. The janitor tried to hit her, but she dodged him, turning her body to the right and getting away from him. 

"Waverly!" Wynonna slapped me, trying to get my attention. "We have to go, NOW!" 

This time, when my best friend pulled me, I followed her. I looked back one last time, worried about Nicole. And everything I could see was a warrior, hitting the man several times with her sword. That's when I knew she had done this before, this couldn't be her first battle. That's when I also knew that my day, that had barely even started, was going to be crazy.

And that was only the beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

Waverly's P.O.V.

We got to the east side of the school, where there was no one. Wynonna was agitated and mumbling things that I couldn't understand. What the hell had just happened? All I wanted to do was run away from there (and also punch Nicole Haught).

"Waverly, you can't freak out now!" Wynonna realized that my breathing was unsteady and that I was close to having a panic attack. "We need to go somewhere safe, ok? It's gonna be alright."

"Wy, what's going on?" I asked while feeling my eyes tear up.

"I will explain everything to you, but first, we have to go home and make a real plan."

"Wait, what about Nicole?"

"She will meet us on the way there."

We walked towards the school gate and with a really weird but at the same time amazing agility, Wynonna jumped and climbed it easily. She pulled me up and to the other side. The thing is, I'm not as agile as she is, so I fell to the ground. I was expecting a joke coming from my best friend, but she was more focused than ever.

We ran to the street but before getting there, Wynonna stopped and looked around. She got close to an old green car and took a switchblade out of her pocket. Suddenly, it transformed itself into the key of the car. 

"Ok, first, a lighter turned into a sword, and now a switchblade turned into a key car? Wynonna! Can you stop for ONE second and answer my questions?"

"It's a master key, Waverly!" She grumbled while opening the car. "Now get in!"

I didn't dare to question her again. We got into the car and Wynonna started driving fast. Like really, really fast. And she was a terrible driver.

"Wynonna, for God's sake, can you at least explain what is going on? What did the janitor want with me?"

"That is a great question, I was almost certain you weren't one of us." She answered frustrated. "Now Haught's gonna keep telling me she was right and that I should have listened to her."

"Are you on drugs? What do you mean 'one of us'? Is it a gang? And now I'm involved for being your friend?"

Wynonna looked at me and laughed. "Gang? That would be fun. But no, we're not in a gang. That man was a laistrygonian. It's a mix between cyclopes and cannibals. The good thing is, cannibals are not smart." 

"Cannibals? You're joking right?"

"I wish I was... HOLY SHIT!" Wynonna tried slowing the car down and I was thrown forward. I hit my head on the car panel and saw Nicole standing in front of us, her hands flat on top of the car. She was panting, had blood, and also some type of golden dust on her. She punched the hood and entered the car.

"You're still a terrible driver Wynonna!" She said. "And you're also really slow for a daughter of Hermes. C'mon, drive!"

Well, she was alive and rude, as always. But honestly, I was relieved that she was ok. My best friend didn't say anything, just started driving, even faster than before. I looked at Nicole again. A part of her shirt was ripped, she had big bruises on her arms and a cut on her chin that was still bleeding. Her red hair was messy but it was still glowing. 

The whole way over, no one said anything. My head was still hurting from everything that had happened. Wynonna was focused on driving us somewhere safe and Haught? She just crossed her arms and looked out of the window. We parked the car somewhere on the outskirts of the city, in a small street with almost no houses. To our right side, there was a small but well-conserved house. 

"C'mon Gibson." The redhead pushed me to get into the house. I would normally say something back at her, but she had saved me earlier, so I had to be nice. 

The place was very simple and also confusing. It had a really old sofa, but on the corner of the room, there was a TV that had clearly been expensive, alongside with a videogame device. The circular table where dinner was probably served had a funny flower-patterned tablecloth. But in the center, was a beautiful sculpture of an angel, which I could have sworn was made out of gold. The paintings on the walls were bad and old, but there were also beautiful pictures of landscapes.

"I'm gonna take a shower." Nicole said before leaving.

"Is this her house?" I asked Wynonna.

"Actually, hers and mine. And unfortunately, not anymore." She answered while laying down on the couch. "I was starting to like it here."

"What do you mean 'not anymore'?" I asked as I sat next to her. "Nonna, please tell me what's going on, my head is a mess right now. Are you in trouble? Did Nicole make you do anything you didn't want to?"

"Oh, yes. A lot of times." She said laughing. "But she saved me a lot of times too... I want to explain you everything, but I don't even know where to start. You have to be really open-minded, ok?"

"Yes, yes, ok. I just need answers."

"Ok... So, what do you know about greek mythology?" She asked me.

"This is not the time to joke, Wynonna!"

"I'm not joking, Waves." She said looking at me. "Greek mythology is the answer to all of your questions. Greek gods, monsters, nymphs, satyrs... It's all real. I'm a half-blood, a demigod."

Demigod. My mind promptly projected the Disney movie, Hercules, a hero, son of a powerful god who had super strength. Was Wynonna telling me it was something like that? 

"Don't you have a better excuse, Wynonna?" I asked outraged.

"Just be open-minded, ok? You will start believing it with time. Gods are real, and sometimes they come 'down here' to make things. One of those things is having fun with humans. And like that, we are born. Some demigods die without even knowing what they are because their powers don't develop. But some, have a really strong greek side and they develop some abilities. These are the ones we hunt."

"Hunt?" I asked still not believing what I was hearing.

"Yes, monsters. Like the janitor at the school today. They kill us, demigods, because of revenge or simply because it's their nature."

"And that laistryganion was after me?"

"Laistrygonian." Wynonna corrected me. "And yes, it looks like he was, we just don't know why yet."

"Do you know how crazy you sound, Nonna? I want to go home, I need to talk to my mom, tell her about all of this." 

"About that... she is actually OUR mom."

"WHAT?" I screamed.

"Ok, ok, calm down. We... have the same mom, Michelle Earp. Since you're born, she couldn't figure out if you were a demigod or not, so we just hid it from you. Mom gave you a different last name, Gibson, and sent me away. After all this time moving all over the country and escaping from monsters, she decided you two were safer if you stayed close to me. But we have different fathers or you can even have another mother."

"I... I don't understand... Why? How? I want to talk to her."

"That would only put her in danger." Nicole's voice came from the hallway. Her hair was darker and wet, and she had different clothes on, jeans and a black Nirvana shirt.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"That laistrygonian said that he would 'take you to his master'. If this 'master' sent that monster after you, he will probably send others. Now that you were found and you know about everything, it will be easier for them to find you."

At that point, all I wanted was for everything to go back to normal, I wanted to go home and hug my mom. I got up from the couch, my instincts telling me I had to escape.

"I'm going home," I said. "I'm not involved with those things you guys did, I didn't do anything."

I did the only thing I thought it was right at the moment. I turned around and started walking towards the door, trying to open it, but Wynonna had locked it.

"Wynonna, let me go, please." I begged her.

"Waves, wait." She said patiently. "I know everything sounds crazy right now, I do. It was hard for me too when I figured it out... Staying away from you and mom, but I had to. Nicole also left her family, so that she could keep them safe." 

"I'm not leaving my mom!" I screamed. "This is insane. I'm not even legal yet! I don't know what's going on!"

"Deep down, you know everything makes sense." Haught said coldly. "The feeling of being followed, the fact that you're always in the wrong place, at the wrong time. And this is all going to get worse."

"Wave, we-" 

A loud growl interrupted Wynonna's sentence. Suddenly, I froze and felt a cold shiver run through my body. My best friend (or sister now) ran to my side, turning her switchblade into a beautiful silver dagger. Nicole was with her sword ready to attack.

Then, it came out of nowhere. Jumping out of a shadow, a huge black dog appeared and launched itself at Nicole. She tried to deflect it but fell to the ground and dropped her sword. I screamed, while I was being pulled back by Wynonna, who was standing in front of me as a shield. 

Nicole's body was on the floor, the monster's huge paws were on the side of her body. The monster was like every child's worst nightmare: large, with red eyes, claws and pointed teeth, a black aura around him. He opened his mouth to bite the redhead, but she opened her left hand and pointed it toward him, releasing a blast of lightning that knocked him away. 

Nicole dragged herself to get the sword that was on the floor and Wynonna lead me to the door, unlocking it. My eyes were fixed on the surreal scene that was happening in front of me. Haught reached for her sword but had no time to get up. The big dog was about to jump in her direction. I knew Nicole wouldn't be able to defend herself, she was already hurt.

"Stop!" I yelled at the dog before he could attack her. "Please don't hurt her!"

As crazy as it was, the dog really stopped. He looked at me and stepped away from Nicole. 

"Waves, how did you-" Wynonna tried to ask me but Nicole interrupted her. "It doesn't matter now, let's go!"

My sister pushed me through the house and into the old car. I was still petrified. As soon as all of us got into the car, Wynonna started driving. That was when I understood that the danger was real. That all those weird things they had told me were real, and that to keep my mom safe, I had to leave her. 

I let out a long breath, hugging my knees. And then, I cried.


	3. Chapter 3

Waverly's P.O.V.

"What's the plan?" I heard Wynonna ask Nicole.

They were both in the seats in front of me. I spent most of the trip quiet, trying to understand my new 'condition' and what I had to do. I knew I couldn't go home, because that would be putting my mom in danger. What was going to happen? What did those people want with me? Had I done something wrong? Questions and more questions filled my brain, leaving me more confused.

"We have to go to the camp. It's the only place that's safe for her." I heard the redhead tell my sister.

"Camp?" I questioned them.

"Yes, Camp Half-Blood. We train there, it's the only place protected from all monsters." Wynonna answered. "Some of us live there and some just spend the summer."

"Other half-bloods?" 

"And other crazy things..." Nicole said. "It's on Long Island, so get ready for a long trip."

"Can... Can I call my mom?" I heard Nicole snort and Wynonna take a deep breath. "Please! I can't just go missing, she is going to come looking for me and get worried and-" 

"Ok! You can call her, now just shut up." 

I bit my lip to avoid saying something back at Nicole. I couldn't understand why she was so rude.

I searched my back pocket until I could find my phone and took a deep breath before pressing the call button. Before I could take it up to my ear, Nicole took it and threw it out the window, like it was nothing. I had bought it myself! After saving the money for months! 

"Do you want to kill us?" she asked me furiously.

"Why...?" I was still staring out the window before turning to her and start slapping her arm. "That was my phone! You crazy bitch!" 

"Stop." Haught said trying to deflect from me. "Waverly, you're going to cause an accident!" 

I was about to slap her shoulder when an electric shock ran through my body. I was thrown to the back of my seat and I still shuddered twice before going back to normal.

"Are you two done? Do you want to kill us all?" Wynonna yelled nervously.

"SHE was trying to make a call on her phone!" Nicole tried to defend herself.

"And YOU threw it out the window."

"Waves," Wynonna tried to calm herself. "Technology attracts monsters. Once, an eleven-year-old kid used the internet to search about Empousas, and an hour later, he got a visit from one. We never saw him again."

"See? I was right to do what I did." Nicole said.

"No! You could have just explained it to me instead of doing what you did!" 

I threw my back against my seat and crossed my arms. Nicole practically growled at me and stopped talking. Wynonna just shook her head, getting her focus back on the road in front of her.

After an hour of absolute silence, Wynonna parked at a gas station. The redhead was going to put the gas in the car, while my sister and I went to the convenience store to make the call. Suddenly, I was nervous again. How would I tell my mother what was happening? What should I say? 

"Waverly, you have to be quick, ok?" Wynonna said.

"Ok." I picked up the phone and noticed that my hand was shaking, then, I dialed. 

"Hi, mom..."

"Waverly? Oh my God! I was so worried, where are you? I called the school and no one knew where you were!" My mom fired questions with her maternal concern. 

"Mom, I have no way of explaining everything right now, okay? I need you to trust me. I can't go home, not yet. Some things are happening and I have to solve them so I can come back."

"Honey, what is going on? Are you in trouble? You need to come back home! Then, we can fix whatever is wrong." 

"I can't. But I'm fine, ok? I need you to know that I love you, so, so much and that I will come back. Please, don't forget to eat, you always distract yourself and skip the meals. Also, don't forget to pay the bills, we-"

"Waverly..." Wynonna called me. "I need to talk to her too."

"I'm sorry, mom. I love you!" I said and Wynonna grabbed the phone.

"Hey mom, it's me, Wynonna. Yes, she's with me. I know, I know. I will protect her, we'll be fine. Yes, I love you too. Bye." She said before hanging up the phone.

That was probably one of the hardest things I had ever done, even though I knew it was the right choice. I didn't even know I was crying until the tears blurred my vision. Wynonna put her arm over my shoulder, kissed the top of my head, and took me back to the car. I was no warrior, no hero. I was just a normal teenage girl that had a lot of problems and wanted to go home.

I only came back to reality when the car stopped again. I looked up, noticing that it was night and that we were practically in the middle of nowhere. All there was besides the highway was an old cabin a few meters away. The door beside me opened and I expected to find Wynonna's comforting eyes, but I came across two blue eyes. An intense look, but not as bad or arrogant as the other times she had looked at me. 

"Wynonna went looking for food and some other things" Nicole said "We have to stop to sleep, the rest of the trip will be quite long and this is the last safe place I know before Virginia." 

I just nodded and got out of the car. The night was extremely cold, so I was soon hugging my body and following Nicole to the cabin. Even at night, it was easy to see. Away from the city's artificial lights, the moon played the role of illuminating everything. Only then, I noticed how white Nicole Haught was, her skin seemed to be gracefully bathed in moonlight. Her red hair was cascading down her shoulder with subtle waves. It was hard to look at her and know that she was a warrior. 

"I'm going to get some wood, there's a fireplace inside and it's really cold." She said interrupting my thoughts.

"No! I'll go with you." I said promptly, showing some fear in my voice. 

"Hm," Nicole looked at me seriously and then shrugged. "You're right, you being alone is very dangerous. You're very much capable of falling, stumbling, and seriously injuring yourself." 

"Haha, very funny." I let out a fake laugh. "You should give me more credit, you know? I did prevent you from becoming dog food." 

"I will give you more credit if you know how you did that." She said and gave me a small wink. Bingo. 

Nicole briefly looked back at me again before starting to walk away towards some trees. We were silent, and that was making me extremely uncomfortable. My head was confused, filled with questions of all kinds. Whose daughter was she? Was she aggressive and rude like that because it was her temper or because life had her made her like that? 

Without realizing it, I started to move my legs up and down, hitting the floor and making loud noises. 

"Ok, speak up. You're disturbed and it's agonizing me." Nicole said while handing over some tree branches for me to hold. 

"I don't know if I want to talk to you." I said sincerely, narrowing my eyes. "We always ended up fighting anyway."

"Well, we finally agree on something! Just stop with the noise, it's annoying me." 

"Wow! You're so kind!" I said ironically. "I just want to know some things... You're a demigod, right? So, whose daughter are you?"

"I thought it was obvious." She answered.

She went down to pick up other pieces of wood, this time holding it under her right arm. She moved again, so I knew she wouldn't give me a straight answer. Why was I still trying to talk to her? I rolled my eyes. At least I could focus my mind on something. 

Lightning. There was a god who controlled that, right? Once again, the Disney cartoon about Hercules came to mind and I almost dropped the wood when I finally figured it out. 

"Are you Zeus's daughter?" And as if listening to our conversation, a bolt of lightning flashed the night sky, even without the presence of a storm. That scared me, making me trip and fall badly to the ground. 

"Now you understand what I said about being a risk to yourself?" Nicole looked at me angrily. "I'll just say it once, be careful with the names, avoid saying them. Names have powers, remember that."

She held out her hand to help me up. But her annoying way affected me like no other. I hit her hand and got up on my own, bending down to pick up the wood I had dropped. Nicole said nothing more, just turned around, and started to go back to the cabin.

"Soooo, was I right?" I questioned her just to be sure.

"Yes."

"Oh... is that why Wynonna calls you 'little spark princess'?" 

"Don't you EVER call me that again, do you understand Gibson?" 

She looked at me with that intimidating air of superiority, the one which everyone trambled with fear for. But I didn't look down, I kept looking at her. Brown on blue. No one of us moved like it was a battle, where who looked away would be the loser.

But then, Wynonna showed up, telling us that she had pizza. We got into the cabin, while my sister was telling us about the things she had to make to get everything she wanted. She broke into a closed store, stole some things, got on a bus to the nearest town and bought us the pizza. All that in less than 30 minutes.

"Ok, so... Your father is the god of thieves?" I asked her.

We were sitting on the floor because the cabin had no furniture, besides a bed in the corner of the room. Nicole was close to the fireplace, which had been lit up without me even realizing it. Wynonna and I were sitting in front of each other, talking.

"Yes! He is also the god of the travelers, and messengers, and a diplomat, and has shoes with wings on it." She answered me. "And you're going to stay in my cabin, that's where all the 'undetermined' go to." 

"There are cabins on the camp? "

"Yeah. Originally, there were 12. But after a war against some titans, the son of the god of the sea made a deal with Haught's father." She said and I started to get confused. The god of the sea was Poseidon, right? And Nicole's father was Zeus. "Now all the minor gods and goddesses also have cabins."

"Wynonna," the redhead started "Do you really think she's just a normal human that's sensible to the mist?"

"No. Not after what she did with that dog. That was surprising, I never saw anyone do anything like it." Wynonna answered.

"So why wasn't she claimed yet?"

"Wait, what is this mist?" I questioned them.

"Remember how the janitor looked normal but then he got bigger?" I nodded. "He was always a laistrygonian, but he used mist to hide reality. It's kind of like an illusion, that helps to keep the humans out of our world. For example, if Nicole activates her sword now, a normal human would probably see a baseball bat, not the sword. Even us, half-bloods can be fooled by it." 

"But some humans can't be fooled by the mist." Nicole complemented Wynonna. "We thought that you were one of them, but apparently, you're a disaster, just like us."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." I rolled my eyes. "And what is 'being claimed'?"

"It's when your divine progenitor reveals that it's your other parent. In the old days, they would only do it if they're kids we're worthy of it." Wynonna explained. "But after the war, a deal was made that, every kid had to somehow be claimed after completing 12-years-old. There are still some that wait until they are 13 or 14, but you are late. When it happens, a small symbol shows up above your head, like some kind of 'divine protection'."

"Ok, you two should rest, tomorrow is going to be a long day. I can stay awake watching out for danger." The reached said.

"You also need to rest." I said impulsively.

"I can rest tomorrow in the car." She left for the car, slamming the door on her way out.

"Hey, she's tough like that." Wynonna tried to comfort me. "Nicole is the best at everything, she has to be the best at everything to be alive."

"What do you mean?"

"She's the daughter of one of the Big Three. The king of gods. Her presence, her demigod smell is even stronger for monsters to feel. That's why they have almost no kids. But gods aren't really good at following rules." 

I let out a long breath. That seemed to get me even more curious about who Nicole Haught was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Nicole's eyes are blue... Thank you guys for the kudos and comments! I appreciate it!


	4. Chapter 4

Nicole's P.O.V.

The back seat of that old car was definitely not the best place to sleep, but I had slept in worse conditions, in worse situations. Welcome to the world of Nicole Haught, a demigod who was happy to be able to sleep for a few hours in the back seat of a car. 

Of course, that was not part of my plans, to be in the middle of a totally improvised escape, rescuing what I considered the most clumsy human being on the face of the Earth. What I really wanted to do was to go back to Miami, my home town, and only to return to Camp Half-Blood at the beginning of the summer. But obviously, fate did not have those plans for me. 

I woke up feeling hungry, after all, I had barely touched the pizza the night before. Apparently, Waverly loved it and I preferred to give her my second piece, a little treat she wouldn't get again. I understood that what she was going through was probably really hard. Until yesterday, she had a normal life.

I knew something was up. Not just anything, something big. I had been feeling it all month and had tried to warn Wynonna, but that didn't work. Everything practically collapsed in our faces, catching us off guard and forcing us to run away with our tail between our legs. 

However, if something was going on, it involved the girl sitting in front of me. An unclaimed "old" demigod, who dominated hellhounds with just a voice command. 

I never really cared about Waverly Earp, Gibson, whatever. But I did ask Wynonna to keep an eye on her at all times. I don't know, I guess I just had a feeling.

"She is cute when she's sleeping." I heard Waverly's voice. 

My eyes were closed and I was lost in my daydreams, probably still appearing to be in a deep sleep. I started to pay attention to what they were saying.

"Nicole is not as bad as she looks," Wynonna said kindly. "She's just a girl who had to grow up very early."

I almost rolled my eyes, I hated Wynonna said those things about me. It was as if I could be fragile. But I wasn't, I couldn't be. 

"I just wish she was... I don't know, easier to talk to." Waverly said. "I sure have a lot of things I want to ask her." 

"Forget about that. She doesn't really like talking about herself, but-"

"Are you two done talking about me?" I said surprising them.

I sat up, looking directly into Waverly's eyes. She shuddered, looking away.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Somewhere in North Carolina. We'll probably get to Virginia at dusk." Wynonna answered while looking at the sky. Her sister looked confused, so she said "God of the traveler's daughter, remember? I always know where I am."

"That's really cool! You just, can't ever get lost."

I had to agree with Waverly, which was a rare thing to happen. But it WAS really cool. Wynonna Earp was a prodigy daughter of Hermes. Quick and very agile despite her size, she could easily deceive humans and she had a natural talent for stealing. 

"Let's stop to eat something and I'll borrow a few clothes from some store around." Dinah said and smiled mischievously. 

"None of that Earp!" I said as soon as I saw her smile. "Also, don't get me a Hello Kitty shirt or I will shove it down your throat!"

Dinah burst out laughing. We had been partners or friends for about two years. I couldn't define at what point one thing became the other. We went to camp together and lived close by, so we quickly learned that surviving with one another increased the chances of not being devoured by a monster. 

The Hermes' daughter parked in front of a simple diner while talking to Waverly. We got in and I ordered the most expensive burger and fries, with a glass of lemonade. I was just addicted to lemon stuff. 

Sometimes, I saw Waverly distant, with that look of someone who had just had they're life changed dramatically. And it was on those moments, that Wynonna started a conversation to distract her. I knew that Earp had to run away from her family to prevent Waverly and her mother from getting hurt, but I also knew that she still loved them with all her heart, and would do anything for them. I wish I could say the same about my family. 

"Here, the money I took last night. It must be enough to pay for everything." Wynonna said after we finished eating, taking the bills out of her pocket. "I am going to arrange some things, you two could go to some supermarket to buy groceries and some basic things. I can't go out and get everything from everywhere or I would get caught at some point. I'm good, but I'm not a ninja yet."

"Can I come with you?" Waverly asked. Great, I also didn't want to be with her.

"Waves, I'm sorry, but you would only slow me down... I have to be fast so no one sees what I'm doing." She answered carefully and opened a smile. "But I can teach you some things later, huh? What do you say?" 

"Let's go, little Earp." I finally said.

I got up and went to pay the tab. Wynonna left with a big smile and whistling like she wasn't about to do a really bad thing. I was sure the kleptomaniac side of her loved that part about being a Hermes's daughter. 

I was left with Waverly and we started walking towards the closest supermarket. I was quiet, but I could see that she was anxious, like she wanted to ask me something. And I, I was still wondering who was that girl. A clumsy non-claimed 16-year-old girl, who had tamed an infernal dog, one of the most dangerous beasts there were and-

I was lost in my thoughts when I heard a noise, I turn to the side just in time to see that Waverly had tripped and was about to fell to the ground. Before she could do so, I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards me.

"You're going to kill yourself one day." I said to her.

"I don't doubt it. Thanks for helping me." 

She was so close. Dangerously close, close enough that I could smell her natural perfume. It was a floral fragrance, that had a weird effect on me. 

I let her go, continuing to push the supermarket's cart. I focused my attention on the price of some cereal bars, but I was having a hard time reading.

"Do you also have difficulty reading?" Waverly asked.

"Most of us do. Our genes were 'trained' for the ancient reading. If we try to read something in Greek, we'll understand it." I explained to her. "Hyperactivity is also common. We can't stay still for long, because we weren't born to stay still. We're warriors. At least, most of us. You're definitely not one."

"I know that, you don't have to keep saying it." She looked at me angrily while pouting.

"You can learn to be better, that's what Camp Half-Blood is for."

We got to New York the next morning. We were all tired of staying all this time inside an uncomfortable car. I thought I was going to go insane. Those two talked the whole way over! Wynonna could respect my 'love for silence', but Waverly? She apparently couldn't.

Why would I want to know who was the cutest guy from One Direction? Or what was the best Ed Sheeran song? Or how shouldn't I watch horror movies because they're scary? Wasn't that obvious? Now, I knew that Waverly loved Harry Styles, her favorite song was Lego House and she liked romantic movies. Unnecessary information about someone I didn't care for.

"We are almost in Long Island." I said with relief. "Wynonna, go faster!"

It was almost night and the traffic was making everything worse, but as close as we got to Camp Half-Blood, fewer people we saw. When the hills started to show up, I got more alert and serious. Wynonna reduced our speed, also getting more serious.

"Did something happen?" Waverly asked.

"There are always monsters around this area." Wynonna answered without taking her eyes off the road.

"Always?"

"The camp's location isn't really a secret, but the monsters can't get inside. So, they normally attack people on the way there." Earp said.

We were getting closer. And there was no sign that something I was about to happen, but I was uncomfortable anyway. It was like I knew something was coming. My instincts were telling me that.

Suddenly, a huge shadow came out of nowhere. Waverly screamed and Wynonna pushed the brakes, making the car slide through the icy road and it overturned. I was thrown to the ground since I didn't have my seatbelt on.

I opened the door abruptly, jumping out of the old car and seeing that a whole tree had been thrown in the middle of the street. Waverly and Wynonna got out a few moments after me, Hermes's daughter with her dagger on hand.

"Oh my god! What is that?" Waverly screamed desperately.

It's not a god. It's gods. If the Christian God really existed, he had no mercy for us. The floor started shaking at each step that huge shadow took. It was 6 meters tall, had a humanoid body, and ripped clothes. It barely had hair on his head, but from it, what most caught my attention, was his only eye. In one of his hands, the monster had a wood bat, proportional to his size and he was getting closer.

"Cyclops!" Wynonna yelled when she could finally see it. "Gods!"

"Wynonna, get Waverly and go to the camp." I said taking a deep breath.

"But Nicole-"

"NOW, Wynonna!" I screamed at her.

Wynonna grabbed her sister and started pushing her through the forest that led to Camp Half-Blood. The cyclops watched and tried to follow them but I caught his attention.

"I'm right behind you!"

"Demigod!" He said stupidly.

"Why do monsters have no brain?" I asked myself.

"I am going to eat yours!" He tried to hit me with his bat and I threw my body to the side, before watching the piece of wood hit the floor and destroy itself.

If it was me there, I would have probably gotten really hurt. I got myself up and ran towards the monster, holding my sword firmly. I felt a known vibration run through my body as I started controlling the drafts of air around me. When I was just a meter away from the cyclops, I manipulated the air and pushed my body up. I had the feeling I was flying, and when I got closer to the monster's shoulder, I stuck the blade of my sword in it.

He howled in agony and started moving. I held the sword with both of my hands and let an electric discharge go through it, hitting the cyclops again. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to stop him. His right hand grabbed my body and tightened it strongly. I couldn't avoid the screams leaving my mouth.

I couldn't die there, I wouldn't die there! Not because of this stupid monster. I heard my ribs crack and felt a hallucinating pain. 

"Son of a bitch!" I yelled.

I wasn't thinking of a strategy. I let out lightning, shocking his hand. That was hurting me, letting out so many lightenings at the same time. He opened his hand, and suddenly, I was falling to the ground. This time, I had no energy or focus to manipulate the air around me. I was about to hit the floor when something that was flying held my body.

"I got you, Cole!"

That voice made me relax. Dolls was there, on top of a grey pegasus, rescuing me. And he wasn't alone. From the woods, the archers, sons and daughters of Apollo, showed up, led by Jeremy. Children of Ares, the war god, also showed up and I could see Bobo.

"Fly up high, let's hit the monster from above!" I said to Dolls while adjusting myself on the back of the pegasus.

"Nicole, you're hurt."

"I am not running away from this fight!"

I looked for my lighter in my pockets, and there it was. It always came back to me after some time, no matter what. Arrows hit the cyclops on the arms, legs, and chest. The children of Ares laughed while hitting the monster, that was always fun for them.

Dolls made the pegasus fly a few meters higher than the monster, I transformed my sword, and then I jumped. I stuck the blade once again on the monster, but this time, in his only eye. He screamed and staggered. Soon, he fell to the ground and dissolved into golden dust. That was how monsters died. After, they would go back to Tartarus. Once again, Xavier came to me and put his arm around my waist, so I could lean on him.

"You always bring mess with you..." He said smiling. "Welcome back, Cole."

"Mess... Mess is my middle name." I said trying to control my unsteady breathing.

He laughed. Xavier Dolls was the closest thing I had to a best friend. He was a son of Hephaestus, the god of fire. And he was the person I trusted most in this world.

"We need to get her to the infirmary." Jeremy said as he got close, putting his bow on his back.

"Yes, doctor."

Jeremy Chetri was the infirmary 'leader'. He was short, but he had an amazing talent with bows and cure. Son of Apollo, he was one of the kindest people I had ever met. 

Dolls put me back into the pegasus so that I didn't have to walk.

"Did Wynonna and Waverly get there safe?" I asked.

"Wynonna was the one who let us know what was going on, I don't know who the other one is."

I let out a long breath. Mission accomplished. Now, I could finally get some rest.


	5. Chapter 5

Waverly's P.O.V.

"Wynonna! Nicole... We can't leave her behind." I said while being dragged by my sister through the woods. 

"She knows what she's doing. We have to get tho the camp and let everyone know what's going on."

Everything was so new, so scary. I didn't know what to do. I felt weak, fragile.

We got closer to a large stone arch on the top of the hill. There was something written in greek, and I could suddenly understand what it was saying, just like Nicole had told me. Camp Half-Blood. 

Wynonna grabbed me again and started walking even faster, while I was trying not to trip or fall. 

"Wynonna!" A small boy showed up with a bow on his back. When he took a better look at us, he said. "What is going on? Where's Nic-"

"Cyclops!" she answered and the boy picked his bow. "Rosita! Kate! There's a monster down the hill, Nicole's there!" We kept walking around and calling people. "Bobo! Dolls! Nicole, cyclops, down the hill!" 

More four boys showed up and followed everyone else. But the other guy, Dolls, I think, ran to the other side. A few moments later, he reappeared on top of a big grey horse with wings. Was that a pegasus?!? Wynonna was about to go too, but I held her, looking at her desperately. Everything was just happening too fast, and it was too much.

"Waves, I'm sorry, I'm here." She said calmly. "No need to freak out, it's ok."

"Is Nicole going to be ok?" I asked uncertainly. "She is, right? It would be my fault if anything happened to her. Maybe-"

"No," my sister interrupted me. "She's got back up now and I-"

"Please, don't go! Don't leave me here alone!" 

I was being selfish, I knew it. But it was stronger than me. I was in a weird place, surrounded by people I had never seen before. I was going to panic if I was left alone. Wynonna seemed to understand that and took a deep breath.

"I can't even imagine how Nicole would pick on you for being so scared..." She said laughing, trying to calm me.

She would call me weak. 

"I'm going to take you to Nedley. He's the camp's trainer. I don't think Mr. D is here."

I just nodded and let myself be pushed by Wynonna. It was a rustic place, most of the constructions were made of wood. We passed through a big pine tree, that had a kind of lambskin in it. She told me it was the Golden Fleece, one of the things responsible for protecting the camp.

We got to a house. It looked like any other house from where we came from. Wynonna climbed the steps to the porch and was about to knock on the door when it opened. A man in a wheelchair showed up. He had grey hair and a beard, and looked tired.

"Wynonna... You came before the summer." He frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, some things." She pushed me to stay in front of the man. "Nedley, this is Waverly Earp, she's a half-blood. And my sister." 

"Hello, Waverly." The man said kindly but looked like he was examining me. "How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen. But Nonna told me something about being 'late'?"

"Yes, this is strange. Are you sure, Earp?" 

"Well, she made a hellhound dog stop only with a voice command. No human can do that." She shrugged. "You could talk to her while I go get Nicole."

"And where is she?" He asked.

"Fighting a cyclops down the hill, but I already sent backup. You know she likes fighting like she's a daughter of Ares. She must have at least one broken bone." 

"But she's going to be ok, right?" I asked, my body trembling just with the thought of seeing her hurt. "Wynonna, you have to go see if she's ok, I-"

"She will be." My sister said firmly. "I will go check on her. Waves, Nedley's nice, ok? You can't talk to him. I'll be back later." 

"Get in, child." Wynonna hugged me before running away. She was always really talented with sports, but I didn't know she could run THAT fast.

Nedley got into the house, making a sign for me to follow him. I was tired, worried, and scared, so, when he pointed to a sofa, for me to lay in, I threw myself in it.

"Waverly, you don't have to be afraid when you're here, this is the safest place for demigods to be. We train you, take care of you and teach you how to survive in the real world. Some even become heroes." 

Nedley said everything with a calm voice, stopping in front of me, and once again, studying me.

"I would be insensible if I asked you to talk to me about everything right now. You look tired, and you're probably still confused. For now, I can answer some of your questions, if you have any."

"Oh..." I took a deep breath. "Thank you. I know everything is real, that the monsters are chasing me and want something from me. But... I don't know what I am. What could they want?"

"Well, you'll have to understand a little bit of history for that. These things have been happening since the beginning of time. Demigods are normally born with big destinys in front of them, and they're hunted so they can't fulfill those. And the monsters are creatures that are suffering 'divine punishment'. Killing half-bloods is a way of getting the god's attention.

"Sir, I don't want any of this! I just want to go home!" I felt my body shivering and couldn't stop the tears from running down my face. "I don't know how my mom is, I couldn't even say goodbye properly." 

"Stay calm, dear. Here, you can train, and when you feel ready, you can go back to your human mother and protect her. We don't make anyone stay here if they don't want to." He let me digest what he had just said and continued. "Well, you still have to find who your other parent is... It could be a dad or another mom."

"Wait, two moms? How could that-"

"We don't know, that just happens. Sometimes demigods can have two moms or two dads."

After talking for a while, Nedley guided me out of the house. I was about to help him go down the steps when he started shifting. His body got taller and his human legs transformed into horse legs. Now he was half-human, half-horse.

"Do you know what I am, Waverly?"

"Should I?"

"I'm a centaur." He explained to me. "And I train demigods. Whenever you need me, I'll be here."

I nodded still confused. He was laughing and looked at a boy who was coming to us. I turned around and saw a handsome guy. He had short black hair, a beautiful smile, and apparently, had an amazing fashion sense.

"Waverly, this is Doc, son of Aphrodite. He will show you around and later take you to cabin 11."

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." He said while kissing the top of my hand.

"You too... I wanted to know about Nicole, is she-"

"She's on the infirmary, being taken care of by Jeremy." Doc answered me and I felt an enormous relief. "Jeremy is our master healer and son of Apollo. Soon, Nicole will be good and annoyed as always."

"She's like that here too?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she's worse! She's always thinking she's the best. Now let's go! You look like you need a shower and a bed, desperately."

We started walking and he kept talking to me. He was talkative, so that helped me get distracted. Also, he looked pretty vain, but that didn't mean he wasn't nice, he had taken his time to show me around.

Nedley's house was called 'Big House', where he lived with Mr. D, the camp's director. Close to it, there was a volleyball court, a building that was used for arts and a climbing wall, that Doc told me it was used for training and competitions. 

There was also an amphitheater, a combat arena, and a dining hall. The cabins were in the center of the camp, and there were a lot of them. The biggest ones were spread in a U form and Doc explained to me that the gods were divided: there were the 12 most famous ones and the minor ones. He was going to continue with the tour, but Wynonna came out of Cabin 11.

"Waves!" She looked calmer and like she had taken a shower. "Hey Doc, you came back earlier this year." 

"Yes, things got complicated." He said while hugging my sister.

"Are you babysitting my sister?" Wynonna asked.

"Hey!"

"She's a lovely girl... I have to go, ladies. It was nice meeting you, Waverly." He said before leaving.

"Come on in. You're lucky camp's still empty, you can choose a good bed." Wynonna pushed me to go into the cabin.

"Nonna... How's Nicole?"

"Alive." She smiled. "Some people told me she jumped from the pegasus on top of the cyclops and killed him. She loves showing herself off during these battles."

I took a shower, and to my surprise, the water wasn't cold. Wynonna gave me an orange shirt, with 'Camp Half-Blood' written in it and jeans. Then, we left to the refectory to eat something. 

I realized that the camp had not only half-bloods, but also satyrs, that were half-man, half-goat, and nymphs, spirits of nature.

When we got to the dining hall, I found out that there was a tradition to offer part of your food to a divine being, and throwing it on the fireplace they had there. I had no idea who I was going to thank. So I just thought about Hermes and thanked him for keeping me safe during our trip. Well, at least for most of the time.

I was ok, eating when I felt a paper ball hit my head.

"Try not to care about these guys, they're stupid. The best part of most of them is their muscles." Wynonna told me. "Unfortunately, you're the new kid and they are going to pick on you."

I just rolled my eyes and continued eating.

(...)

Three days had passed. Three long days. I was the new kid and an 'indefinite', without any knowledge of the things that happened there. 

The Ares' children were the worst. They were led by Bobo Del Rey, who was always trying his best to annoy me. But they weren't the only ones. The children of Hermes loved pranking me when they were bored, which meant they were always pranking me. Wynonna always tried to help me without laughing, but she was also a daughter of Hermes, so she was always messing around. 

Gladly, there were also the nice people, like Jeremy and Doc. I had also met Rosita, who was just as funny as Wynonna. Camp Half-Blood was almost like every other. They had a lot of activities, and I had spent most of my time helping the nymphs and picking strawberries, and cleaning the stables. That last part would have been awful if it wasn't for Dolls, a really nice Hephaestus son, who loved animals.

I woke up on the fourth day with Wynonna's help, who convinced me to go to the arena. I knew that at some point I would have to learn how to fight. She made me put on some boots and a type of armor in my chest to protect me. Rosita was there, teaching some younger demigods how to use the bow and arrow.

"Well, hello there, little Earp! Decided to show up and be a new target for me to practice with?" Bobo showed up with a sarcastic smile.

"Shut up, Robert." Wynonna said, putting herself in front of me.

"I won't forget what you did in our cabin, Wynonna!" My sister had told me that last year, she had painted one of the walls in the Ares's cabin. The problem is, she had painted it pink. "I'm not going to take it easy on you just because you're a girl."

"Like I'm afraid of you, I'm sure my dick is bigger than yours." 

"Wynonna!" I said.

That just seemed to make the boy more annoyed, and he started to walk towards us like he was about to attack. But before he could do so, someone showed up and punched Bobo, making him fall on the ground.

"Haught! You bitch!" Bobo said with his hand on his nose.

Yes, Nicole Haught. She was standing in front of us, using jeans, her orange camp shirt, and her hair was up in a ponytail. It looked like she was never hurt.

"Bobo... Were you really about to beat up Wynonna? Someone this weak?" Nicole said.

"Hey! I put you down once!" My sister tried to defend herself.

"Because you cheated." The redhead rolled her eyes and kicked Bobo's knee. "Come on, get up. I've been resting for these last couple of days and I'm ready to train again. Jeremy wouldn't let me get up. Honestly, I'm more scared of him than of you."

"I'm not going to hold back, Haught. I'm going to kick your ass." Bobo said while getting up.

"I would like to see you try. Oh, Wynonna, don't let Waverly touch anything sharp, she might kill herself accidentally." 

There it was. She had barely even talked to me and was already provoking me. I watched them leave as I felt my blood boil.

"Relax, Waves. Wait a few weeks and you'll be able to defend yourself." Wynonna tried to comfort me.

"Let's start!" I said determinedly.

I couldn't be weak forever. I was going to show everyone how strong I could be. I had to, so that I could go back home.


	6. Chapter 6

Nicole's P.O.V. 

It had been almost two weeks since we got to Camp Half-Blood. People were going to start arriving, so I was trying to enjoy those last few days of an empty camp.

I left my cabin soon in the morning. Zeus' Cabin was always empty, I was always there by myself. I had two half-brothers, one lived in the Roman camp, Camp Jupiter, and the other one was a hunter of Artemis. I hated hunters and hated the memories I had about them.

I went to Dolls' smithy, where I knew he would already be awake. He didn't really like sleeping, because of the nightmares he had at night. They had been happenning ever since he had discovered his abilities with fire. Since then, he had lived at the camp.

"Fell off your bed?" He asked me.

"I always get up early, you know that." I said annoyed.

"Wow, how I love your morning mood! I have something that will make it better..."

He asked me to follow him through his messy room. Hephaestus children were brilliant, knew how to build and fix things, but they're also very messy. 

He finally found what he was looking for and threw it to me. It was my black lighter, but now it had gold details in it. 

"Transform it." He said to me.

I did as he asked. Now, the handhold had small wings, that were slightly curved, to protect my hand, and he had added more golden details to the sword. It was prettier, but it was definitely heavier.

"I also added some celestial bronze." He said smiling.

"Celestial bronze...? But-"

"I know, it's rare. But I found it, and you're my best friend. You'll probably need it more than anyone." 

"You're amazing, Dolls! Thank you." I said while hugging him. Those moments were pretty rare. It was hard for me to verbalize my feelings. "This deserves a celebration!" 

"You're going to smoke now? It's barely 9 AM." He asked me, looking disappointed.

"Yes! I have to enjoy it before the kids come and Nedley makes me be a 'good example' for them."

"Ok... I'll see you later. I have a project to finish." 

"What are you up to?" I asked him.

"Something for my revenge against Bobo, you'll see it."

Dolls and the Ares' son had been fighting since they got to the camp. Ares was Aphrodite's lover, who was Hephaestus' wife, who was Dolls' dad. They were always competing for everything, from stupid things like who could it more spicy chicken wings, to who could make more younger girls fall in love with them. It was disgusting.

I left the smithy and went to the woods, trying to be alone for some time. When I needed these, I went to Zeus' fist, a pile of rocks close to the river. No one ever went there, and it was a great place for me to smoke, that was a habit that I didn't take seriously, but it helped me relax and forget about my problems for a while.

While I was walking there, I took a mint cigarette and lit it up. I was so focused on it, that I didn't realize I had already arrived. I looked up and almost choked on the smoke. 

Waverly Earp was there. 

What the hell was she doing there? For a moment, I felt anger run through my body. That was my secret place, where I could go to relax. I felt violated by just seeing her there. She wasn't supposed to know about this place.

She had her back turned to me, and she was holding a sword, trying to make some movements with it. She was training. But she wasn't good. The way she was holding the sword would hurt her, and it was to heavy for a beginner. 

Though I had to admit, she was persistent. She spent most of her time training, running around the camp with Wynonna, or even attempting to use the bow and arrow with Jeremy's help. 

I took the cigarette once again to my lips. I was trying not to lose it and be rude, but it was really hard. 

"You're doing everything wrong." I said as she almost fell, trying to swing the sword to the right.

When she heard my voice, she jumped and fell to the ground, because of the scare. The sword fell off her hand and almost cut her leg. 

"Haught!" She said surprised, as she tried to get up embarrassed. "I didn't know you smoked."

"That's the thing, Earp, you know nothing about me. Get out of here, go train somewhere else."

"Why should I do that?" She lifted her chin, boldly.

"Because this is my place, and I want to relax."

I knew I was being rude, but I didn't care.

"Listen, I just want to train by myself, without anyone to judge me." She said as she got down to pick up her sword.

"Well, people wouldn't be judging you if you were doing everything right. Now get out!"

She closed her fists, clearly angry but didn't leave. 

"You know a lot about swords and training, right?"

"Yes." I said dryly.

"No one can defeat you, right?" 

I turned to her, with a face that said 'where are you trying to go with this?'.

"I want you to teach me how to use a sword!" She said determinedly.

I looked at her surprised, and then let out a laugh.

"You really know how to make a joke. Now get out of here, I still have one cigarette in my pocket that I want to enjoy."

"No, please..." I couldn't believe she was asking me that. "Please help me, Nicole." 

"Nope! I'm not gonna help you, Earp."

"You're the best using the sword. Wynonna is good with daggers, but I don't like them. And Jeremy is teaching me how to use the bow, but still... I want to learn how to use a sword."

She said all at once like she was trying to show her point. And she was right, I was the best.

"No. I won't win anything with it!" I denied it again. "You're starting to annoy me."

"And I will keep doing so if you don't help me!" She threatened me, looking desperately. "I will keep annoying you every day, every hour. I will call you Pikachu and you will regret having said no!"

"Pikachu?!?"

"Yes, that little yellow mouse that releases lightning! He is adorable."

That girl was crazy. I ran my hand over my head and started leaving, I wasn't going to keep listening to those things.

"Nicole!" She followed me and grabbed my arm strongly. I looked at her angrily, but that didn't seem to scare her. "Please. I need to make this work. I am training so hard! Please, I will do whatever you ask me during training. I won't complain about anything." 

"I would win nothing with that! It's useless for me, I would be just wasting my time."

"Listen, I just want to be stronger so that I can go back to my normal life and my mom." Waverly tried again."I didn't ask for any of this, and I know there's no way of changing who I am, so I want to learn how to deal with it. I want to learn how to survive it, Nicole!"

That was the moment that I understood that Waverly really wanted to learn how to fight, to defend herself, to survive and go back to her mom. That reminded me of my mother. That reminded me of how she threw me out of the house because I was a danger to Liz and James.

I didn't really care about my mom, but I loved my siblings. I missed them every day, and that left me more lonely and rough. I knew that I couldn't let Waverly go through the same things I had, or she would lose that glow that she had in her beautiful eyes, she would become a colder person. Nobody deserved that.

"Ok, you're right. I was an idiot to think that you would help me." She mumbled, letting go of my arm and wiping away some tears that were streaming down her face. "I hope you choke on that cigarette, Haught." 

'Let her go', I told myself. 'Let her do this by herself, no one has ever taught you anything, and you learned how to survive'. But I couldn't do this to her.

I knew I was going to regret what I was about to do.

"You're using the wrong sword." I said, seeing her stop halfway and turn around. "It's too heavy for someone like you. Let's go to the armory and get you a real weapon." 

"You're... You're going to help me?" She asked me shocked.

"Yes." I rolled my eyes. "That part of annoying me for the rest of my life scared me. And you calling me Pikachu? Listen, I have a reputation to protect."

Waverly smiled, full of expectations. She looked beautiful.

I shook my head and turned around, starting to walk. What was I thinking?

"Just to be clear, you will do everything I say, as crazy as it sounds." I said firmly. "If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to hit yourself, you hit yourself." 

"Ok... Are you sadistic?"

I just rolled my eyes again and kept walking. We got into a huge deposit, where we kept most of our weapons. I walked to the wall that had all the swords and she followed me. There were a lot of them, each different in shape, material, and weight.

"They're so different from each other." Waverly said to me, looking interested.

"Yeah. You don't have the strength to use the long swords or the bastard swords, that you have to use both hands. Your options are the short swords, that require a close attack, or a foil sword, that is thinner for more agility."

"You have to choose, or I'll probably end up choosing the one that looks the cutest." I rolled my eyes at her comment.

I chose three swords and made her hold each one of them, asking about the weight. It couldn't be too heavy or too light. I had to teach her how to put the sword scabbard on, and I was already annoyed by how she didn't know how to do anything.

We went to the arena and I tried to be patient while trying to teach how to use her weapon.

"You can't hold it to firmly, or you'll hurt your fist, and you can't hold it too lightly or you'll let it fall."

She nodded at what I had said and made some movements, that were much better just by having the right sword with her.

"In a battle, you need to have a good base, foundation." I explained to her as best as I could. "Your knees need to be flexed so you can have a quick reaction. Your movements have to be fast and you need to read your opponents, so you know how to hit them."

She was about to turn to the left when she tripped and almost hit me with the sword. I grabbed it from her hand angrily.

"You need to have a better corporal ability, or you will kill me accidentally."

"Maybe it won't be accidentally." I rolled my eyes.

"Ok, listen. From now on, you have to start feeding yourself healthy food." I said, stressing the word 'healthy'.

"That's not going to happen, I love eating pizza, and I never get fat so..." 

"Miraculously, it must all go to your ass."

"Nicole Haught! I can't believe-" She started walking towards me like she was going to hit me. Before she could do so, I deflected to the other side. It was no secret to anyone she had a big ass, even I couldn't deny it.

Later on, I made her do jumping jacks and sit-ups, just to see how bad her physical condition was. After a few minutes, she laid on the ground, too tired to stay up.

"Are you already giving up?" I teased her.

"Nope! I won't ever give up." She said while standing up and almost falling to the ground again. "C'mon, let's go! What do you want me to do now?"

"I want you to go take a shower, you look terrible." I said and Waverly looked at me angrily. "We will meet here every morning, as soon as the sun comes up. I don't want any complaints, you're the one who asked for this. Drink a lot of water. Also, you'll have to talk to Doc Holliday."

"What does Doc has anything to do with training?"

"You need to have a better body balance, you need to ask Doc to teach you how to dance."

"Wait, is this serious? Does Doc even know how to dance?" She looked confused.

"Yes, this is serious. And yes, Doc knows how to dance, most of Aphrodite children do."

"Do YOU know how to dance, Haught?" 

"As I said before, you know nothing about me, Earp. See you tomorrow, and be careful, I don't want you to accidentally kill yourself before I can torture you a little more." 

"Very funny... Can I go now?"

"Yes. And one last thing, you shouldn't wear accessories while training." I pointed at the necklace she was wearing.

"I'm not going to take it off, I always have it with me."

"Ok... You're dismissed."

She nodded and left the arena. I let a smile grow in my face. After all, this was going to be fun.


	7. Chapter 7

Waverly's P.O.V.

I thought I was going to die. 

I was sure of it. And I would die out of sheer stubbornness and pride. I knew, I had asked for it, I knew Nicole's 'terms and conditions' when I practically begged her to train me, but I never thought it would be so difficult and inhumane like that. Even Wynonna had to ask Nicole to take it easy on me. And what did she do? The opposite. 

Weeks had passed since the beginning of training. Now, the place was filled with demigods and was more camp-like. 

Sometimes, it even seemed like a common camp, until someone showed up and did something bizarre. Like a daughter of Hecate, turning her ex-boyfriend, son of Dionysus, into a white rat for two hours. Or a son of Demeter growing a super weird plant on Bobo's head. That was actually really funny, but the boy had to hide from the Ares' son for two days. 

I was learning to like the place. Of course, except the mornings when Nicole killed me a little more. The good part of it was dancing with Doc and Wynonna. I was terrible at it, I made weird and rhythmless movements, but I was getting better and working harder and harder.

Doc and Wynonna were the perfect pair for teaching me, they were playful, fun, and weird enough to make that hour one of my favorite moments of the week.

Nicole was right, though she will never see me admit it, when she said that dancing would help me have a better body balance. 

Each training was different. After all, Nicole had also never taught anyone before. Sometimes, we trained my reflexes, and she threw things at me with a machine that Dolls had invented. Other times, she taught me sword techniques, and in those moments I had to admit that she knew what she was doing. We also discovered that I shouldn't wear shields, I was clumsy enough without having a heavier weight on my left arm. 

One of the curious things that happened these last few weeks was that people had stopped bullying me. Wynonna said it was because I was already suffering too much just from Nicole's training, and everyone felt sorry for me. Jeremy even told me that no one would dare mess with 'Nicole's pet'. Something about that offended me, but then it made me laugh because, sometimes, that's exactly what I was. 

One night, I was with my group of friends - yes, I now had friends, another advantage of the Camp - around the campfire, and I was listening to bizarre stories and adventures of each one of them. Even Nicole was there, but I suspected it was only for Wynonna and Dolls. 

Each had a talent that stood out. Jeremy was not the best in archery, that title belonged to Rosita, but he was the best in the 'art of healing'. Both also sang divinely. 

Doc had a persuasive charm, he literally could get everything he wanted when he wanted to. Wynonna was the biggest troublemaker despite, surprisingly, being the most affectionate as well. She was fast, agile, and also had a big map inside her mind. 

And Nicole? Well, she had that thing, lightning, and I overheard people saying that she could fly in a certain way, in addition to being a fencing master. And Dolls was a genius, he was the best in building and fixing things.

"This is annoying." I said thinking aloud. 

"What is annoying, Waves?" Wynonna asked beside me. 

"Not knowing who my other parent is. And considering it could be another mom or dad, there are so many options." I admitted and sighed. 

Everyone was silent, understanding what I had said. It had been a considerable time since I got there, and nothing had happened. At that point, I should've known something, right? Besides having passed the time of being claimed naturally.

"We should make some bets on who is your parent." Rosita suggested like it was a brilliant idea.

"Maybe Aphrodite." Champ, also a new kid, said. "You're beautiful, Waverly."

Wynonna rolled her eyes at the comment and I blushed. 

"If there was a god of the clumsies, that would be your parent." Nicole said.

"I have to agree with her, Earp." Dolls laughed.

"Maybe Apollo?" Wynonna questioned.

"Or maybe Iris? You would be Chrissy's sister." Jeremy tried.

"Speaking of, did you guys know that she was kissing Eliza in the woods?" Someone said.

"Wait, are Chrissy and Eliza a couple?" I asked.

"Are they lesbians?" Champ asked with a disgusting smile on his face.

"Guys... I thought it was obvious. They're the oldest couple there is." Wynonna said. "But they're always breaking up and coming back together."

Even though it was fun to hear that, I wanted to keep talking about who would be my other parent, I was curious.

"Maybe I could be Artemis' daughter. She's the goddess of the hunt, right?" I interrupted, changing the subject of the conversation.

Everyone went silent for a moment before laughs filled the place. I raised my eyebrows, confused. Even Nicole seemed to be having fun.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Artemis is one of the three virgin goddesses." Jeremy explained to me, still laughing. "It's her, Athena and Hestia."

"Wait, but Athena has daughters."

"Yes, but she doesn't have... intimate relations. It's more like a mental thing." Wynonna said.

"But what about Artemis? She has a cabin!" I tried to understand.

"The cabin is for the hunters." Doc tried to explain. "It's a group of young girls who have sworn loyalty to Artemis. They give up love and men. I still don't understand why Shae joined them."

The moment he finished saying that, his eyes widened like he had said something wrong. Once again, I couldn't understand what was going on. Nicole got up, her shoulders looked tense, and she left without saying anything.

"What's up with Haught?" Champ asked curiously. 

"That's no one's business but her own." Dolls tried to defend his friend.

"They're going to find sooner or later." Doc said and I saw Dolls leave like he didn't want to break Nicole's trust. 

"Shae and Nicole were dating last year before she left." Rosita explained.

I was perplexed. Nicole, dating? And a girl? 

"Shae became a hunter and they had to break up. Nicole started being careless, didn't eat, didn't leave her cabin. She almost destroyed Demeter's cabin, Shae's mom in one of their fights."

"Wow..." That's all I could say. "So Nicole, she's..."

"Yeah, didn't you know she hooked up with Zoey on that party at the beginning of the year? Oh, that's right, you don't like parties." Wynonna teased me and I rolled my eyes.

"I just don't like drunk teenagers. And I also don't care about Nicole, why would I know about her personal life?"

We spent the rest of the night around the fire, playing songs and talking.

(...)

The next day, there was no training with Nicole. Nedley woke everyone up as soon as the sun rose, announcing that later that day, there would be a capture the flag game, tradition at camp. Ares' and Athena's children were always the leaders, for being children of the gods of war. 

After a long discussion, the teams were divided into blue and red. The Ares' children were leading the children of Demeter, Zeus, Apollo, and Nemesis on the red team. And Athena's children were leading the children of Hermes, Hecate, Dionysus, and Hefest. Dolls was excited because this game would be an excuse to fight with Bobo, while I was trying to remember all of the rules of the game. As my other parent was still indefinite, I would be in the Hermes' team.

The game looked simple. Each team was going to hide its flag in opposite locations of the river there was, and the teams had to capture each other's flags. Everything was allowed, except for killing. The weapons we were going to use were standardized, so Nicole couldn't use her lighter, and Wynonna couldn't use her switchblade.

"Ok, that's what we're going to do: first, we are going to place our blue flag here." Bea, an Athena's daughter started and pointed to somewhere on the map. As much as I thought she would fit a lot better in Aphrodite's cabin, I couldn't deny she was really smart and had a natural talent of leading. "Hermes' children will stay here in our tent and will put some traps around. Hecate's cabin will distract the archers, while Dionysus' and Athena's children will look for the red flag."

"Nicole will give her everything." Dolls stated. "She always does."

"We could just throw some water at her, I bet she would start collapsing and letting out bolts of lightning." Wynonna said and I couldn't stop a laugh from leaving my mouth. Sometimes, just to annoy her, I would call Nicole, Pikachu. She hated it and made the training even harder for me, but I loved teasing her, and it was worth it.

"I can deal with her." Wynonna volunteered. "But I think we should also use Champ and Waverly."

"What do you have in mind?" Bea asked her.

"Waves has been training really hard, she's already better than a few of us here..." Wynonna explained. "And Champ is the new kid, no one cares about him. We send him as bait and Waverly gets the flag." 

"No, I can't. It's too much responsibility!" I denied. "I'm very much capable of tripping and hitting my head before I can do anything."

"Waves, please. We all see how hard you've been training. You have to trust yourself, you can do it." My sister said, trying to convince me.

I ended up agreeing and we left for lunch before the game started. It was filled with provocations and teasing from both teams.

After eating, we went and choose our weapons, mine was a bigger sword than the one I normally used, but it was the best option at the moment. We also grabbed a blue simple greek armor, for protection.

"Demigods!" Nedley screamed from the top of a kind of podium, so everyone could hear him. "Find your teams and get ready!"

I was incredibly nervous, but my hyperactive and competitive had shown up, making me excited. Wynonna was right! I had to trust myself.

"Leaders!" Nedley called Bea and Bobo to the podium. "Remember the rules, no killing or mutilation under ANY circumstance. Nymphs and satyrs are read to intervene and rescue hurt demigods. When I say so, the team must go into the forest and take their positions. When you hear the bell, the game starts." 

The two demigods on the podium nodded and shook hands. I was turning around to go into the woods when someone bumped me.

"I hope you don't get hurt too easily, Earp." Nicole started. "I'm the one training you, and it would be really shameful."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't come crying when we get your flag... Or are you going to freak out and hit everyone with lightning, Pikachu?"

She was about to answer me when Champ called my name, to go into the woods with him.

"You ok?" He asked me.

"I'm anxious and nervous, but yeah, I'm excited."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you. And when we win, we're going to show everyone the 'power of the indeterminate'."

Champ was a nice guy, he was just a little stupid. I knew that Bobo had been bullying him since he arrived, and I kind of felt bad for him.

"Cabin 11, get the traps ready!" Mercedes said. "Let's crush them!"

Everyone, including me, let out a scream. People started to position, getting ready to run. Kate, an Hecate's daughter, got close and told Champ and me that she would help cover for us. She was beautiful but still as mysterious as any other daughter of the goddess of magic. She was tall and had a beautiful smile. No one really knew what she was capable of, just that she was very strong.

"I'll manipulate the mist, it's hard here at camp, but not impossible. That will give us some advantage." Kate said as we got close to the river. "After that, you two have to run as fast as you can, looking for the red flag. You are the surprise element that they're not waiting for, and this could work out."

I loud sound went through the woods, telling us that the game had started. Kate murmured something, and I felt a grey smoke involve us. We started running, and she came right behind us. We got to the river and everyone was already fighting. We passed through all of them like we were invisible, no one even looked at us. 

The daughter of Hecate guided us for more about 100 meters and we got into the enemy's territory. We stopped somewhere that looked empty so that Kate could rest for a while.

"Now it's up to you. Run and protect each other." She said and focused her eyes on my neck. "Great necklace... Good luck."

She left, and Champ and I started walking. That's when we heard a scream. It was a new guy, who clearly didn't have too much practice, and he was coming towards us. Champ kicked him and disarmed the kid, who ran away.

"Let's go, Waves!" He said proudly of himself.

After facing more 4 other demigods, I realized that Nicole's training was really, really helping me. We walked for a couple more minutes and we found the flag, on the top of Zeus' fist. But it looked too easy.

"I'm going to try to get it." Champ said. "If it's a trap, you'll have a chance after me."

He took a deep breath and got close to the flag. He was walking slowly until something circled he's feet, and he got dragged, being hanged upside down on a tree.

"Champ Hardy? Really?" Bobo showed up, looking like he was disappointed.

After, Bullshar, another Ares' son, also showed up. He laughed and punched Champ. I left where I was, took a rock from the floor and threw it at Bobo's head. 

"Do you think that if we hit her, Haught's going to be mad?" Bullshar asked Bobo.

"I don't give a shit about Haught! I'll take care of her, and you cant take care of Hardy."

Bobo pulled the sword from his scabbard and walked towards me. I could deflect his first attack, but it was getting harder and harder, each movement he made. His attacks were frantic, always direct, and very strong, making me hold my sword with two hands, something I had never done before. Besides being much stronger than me, Bobo followed a pattern.

'You need to read your opponents, so you know how to hit them', Nicole's voice echoed in my mind.

I waited for him to attack me again, and I defended myself, moving forward and kicking him in the middle of his legs. A scream called my attention and I looked up, to see that Bullshar was still punching Champ. I was about to run towards them when Bobo held my feet and made me fall, as I hit my chin on the ground.

I tried to run away from him, but he was stronger than me. I was starting to freak out as I saw Champ being hit again and again. That's when I felt the tip of my fingers tingle like invisible wires were circling them, and I could manipulate something. At the moment, I wasn't even trying to understand what I was doing, I was just doing it.

I pointed my hands towards the woods and saw the earth start moving. In some weird way, I knew that it were the plant roots that were coming towards me, after my command. I wished with all that I had in me, that the roots would grab Bullshar. And just like that, that's what they did. Roots and vines came up from the earth like whips and involved him. When I closed my fist, the plants hugged the Ares' son, and pulled him to the ground, sort of locking him there.

"What... What the hell is that?" He screamed.

With my free foot, I pushed down, kicking Bobo's face, knowing that I had broken his nose. He let me go and I got up unbalanced, grabbing my sword and running towards Champ. I cut the rope that was holding him and helped him get up.

"Let me go! I'm going to kill you!" Bullshar screamed.

I ignored him and put an arm around Champ, walking him towards the flag.

"Go, get it." He said. "You saved me, you deserve this."

I smiled and got close to the flag. My fingers wrapped it and I put it up, letting out a victory scream. We heard a sound just like the one at the beginning of the game. Our team came to us and everyone hugged, congratulating me for the win.

We had won. I had won. I had kicked some asses and I won Nicole's team. That day couldn't get better.


	8. Chapter 8

Waverly's P.O.V.

The infirmary was more crowded than ever, filled with demigods huddled together, waiting to be cured after the game. Some were seriously injured, others only had superficial wounds. Nectar and ambrosia, divine drinks that cured the wounds, were being distributed. The taste was different for everyone, the thing each person most desires. Unfortunately, if consumed too much, it could cause excessive damage. 

I knew Wynonna and Nicole were hurt. They had faced each other during practically the whole game. Wynonna's speed guaranteed her balance after Nicole's offensive attacks. But in the end, the daughter of Zeus had won and she would have gotten the blue flag if it weren't for me, getting the red one first. 

And I? I was being treated like a true hero. Part for winning the game, and part for breaking Bobo's nose.

Then, came the celebration. The amphitheater was transformed into a party. The decoration was made by the children of Aphrodite, the songs arranged by the children of Apollo, and the drinks, by Stephanie Jones, leader of the children of Dionysus, that guaranteed several drinks made from grapes, including wine. Everyone was there, dancing, talking, and enjoying being normal teenagers for at least one night. 

I was holding two glasses, one with wine and the other with grape juice, walking through several demigods, and trying not to drop the drinks. My goal was just to get to Wynonna and the others, and I was doing it well. That was until someone pushed me, making me trip, knock over the drinks, and crash into someone. 

"I should get used to this." Nicole said, trying to adjust herself.

"You're saying it like I love to bump on you." I took a step away from her. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"Hey Earp, I heard about what you did during the game." Nicole said before I could leave. "I was hoping more coming from you!"

"Yeah, sure... It's not like I kicked some ass, broke Bobo's nose, and won the game." I shuddered, like what I just said was indifferent. "You're right, I should've broken a rib, or two." 

"Or maybe you should've hit him harder on the head so that he could gain some intelligence?"

"Oh my god, is Nicole Haught making a joke?" 

"Fuck you, Earp." Nicole almost barked in a low tone. "Anyways, you winning was just luck. Next time, I'll end the blue team."

Then she dodged me and ran into whoever was in her way. I started laughing on my own, and I went looking like girls. I found them dancing, along with Champ and some other demigods. He was also seen as a hero, for taking care of our enemies along the way. Everything was going well, and I was happy, after so long. I saw Nicole alone, with a glass in her hand, looking around. Dolls was dancing with Stephanie, and Wynonna was singing a Beyoncé song that was playing while dancing with Doc. But Nicole seemed to have given up staying at the party and started walking through the forest, following a trail that I knew very well. She was going to 'her place', the Fist of Zeus. "I'm going to the bathroom, but I'll be right back." I told Wynonna and she just nodded. I couldn't believe what I was about to do, leaving my friends just to go after Nicole. But at that moment it felt right, and no one should be so alone, especially during a party. Nicole was... complicated, but I never considered her a bad person. I followed her through the trail, but I was honestly scared of being alone in the woods, that late at night. Luckily, it didn't take me long to find the place and the redhead.

Lauren was leaning on the rock that gave the place its name. I stopped for a moment, static, getting a reality check that I hadn't received yet. Or perceived, at least. The Zeus' daughter was wearing tight dark jeans, a white blouse, and a black leather jacket. Her red hair was curled over her shoulders and, on her feet, she had a beautiful pair of boots. I even noticed the red lipstick that painted those full lips, as well as the black cigarette that was between her fingers and was brought to her mouth, as she slowly exhaled the smoke. A real charmer. 

Gods, she was beautiful. Yes, that was my newest perception, the great discovery. Most of the time I hated her or was annoyed by her. Nicole could be rude, crude, stupid. But now, she was just beautiful.

"It's impolite to stare, you know? I'm sure your mother thought you that... Or is Waverly Earp actually a stalker?" Nicole said but didn't even look at me. She remained on her casual posture, lifting her foot to lean against the large stone. She was being rude, cold, but she wasn't trying to kick me out like she did the first time. I took this as a positive sign and carefully approached her. 

"You really know how to be inconvenient." Haught said and looked down at me, not happy with my presence. "Or you just don't know when people want to be alone."

Her eyes were blue, very blue. They always changed color, ranging from grayish-blue to the most beautiful emerald green. I was standing there a meter away from the girl, and I could look directly into them.

"Why do you like to be alone?" I asked, curiously.

"Why does it matter?" Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Go enjoy the party, you deserve it. After all, you took the flag from my team, even though I still think it's pretty bizarre that the children of Ares lost to you and Hardy. "

"It's too noisy there, and many people are starting to lose control." I explained and looked up, getting closer to the stone, next to Nicole. "Do you like the stars?"

"You like to ask questions, don't you?" 

"I know... it's inconvenient sometimes, but it's stronger than me. So, do you like stars?" 

"Liz liked them." Nicole said absently, looking up. "She knew how to recognize the constellations. When I got older, I put her on my shoulders, and she stretched her arms up, saying that she would take them and give one to me."

That was something different. Nicole seemed, for a moment, to have let her guard down. Her voice held no trace of irony or coldness. She spoke of a memory she liked, she missed.

"Liz must be someone important to you." I thought out loud. 

Her shoulders went rigid and the hard look she gave me made it clear that Nicole had finally noticed what she had done. Her expression became more and more serious, and she pulled away from the stone, throwing the cigarette on the floor. Then, she turned to me, so unsettled that, for a moment, I thought of leaving, but I was already against the rock. 

"Listen to me, Earp, because I will only say that once. I don't want you to get close to me, because I'm not going to be your friend." She practically growled the words. There was so much anger in her tone, that it really scared me. "I am training you, I'm being nice sometimes, but that doesn't mean I like you, or that I want to have any type of relationship with you. Am I clear?"

I would have rather have been hit by a lightning bolt. Nicole was spitting blunt words and I was being hit promptly. Whatever kind of admiration I was creating for her, had been murdered after each one of those sentences. My heart was breaking because, for a moment, I had really believed that I could get close to her. 

"I can't believe how stupid I was to have thought that you could be more human. God! You are such a difficult and rude person, that you do deserve to be alone!"

"Good, so get out of here and stop trying to get into my life. I don't need you, I don't need anyone to survive." Nicole shouted angrily. "You're just a little girl that I'm spending time with because I have nothing better to do. You will die soon, and you know why? Because you are too clumsy and dumb to understand what real life looks like!"

"Nothing better to do?" it hit me hard, making my body tremble. "So I'm going to do us both a favor and forget that you were ever teaching me something. Because you know what? I'd rather die soon and trying, than not even living, just surviving, as you do."

She practically growled and moved forward. I dodged her, leaving Zeus's Fist. I started to run without looking back, while stubborn tears streamed down my face. I was furious, but more than that, I was hurt. 

I knew it was stupid of me, but when I went to look for her, I had really let my guard down, I thought she wasn't going to be that cold. However, I was wrong. Nicole was not simply difficult to deal with. She was impossible. 

I didn't want to admit how sensitive I was, that I had expected Nicole to have some kind of honest conversation with me. Only then, that I realized how much I wanted her to respect me, to like me. 

I didn't see where I was going. I just wanted to get as far away from that despicable being as possible. My heart was hammering in my chest, and it was on those moments, that I wished with all my strength to return home. I wanted Mama and her caresses, her tired and caring smiles. 

It took me a long time to realize something inevitable. I was completely lost in the forest. But more than that, I was lost and it was night. The forest was not a hundred percent safe. A lot of people had told me that, sometimes, wild beings could appear there. 

So, in addition to being sensitive and hurt, I was afraid and lost. I was looking around, feeling like that blonde in a cheap horror movie. 

I heard a branch break and my heart leaped into my throat. Gods, I could be eaten by wolves, bears, or anything bizarre that exists in this world! 

But nothing, nothing could compare to what came next. 

Suddenly, I heard a sinister yelp, low and strong, as if it was whispering and screaming at the same time. The trees swayed and a huge thing flew up and stood against the moon. 

That thing made me stop, frozen by fear. It had huge bat wings, dark skin, and long hair on the top of its head. The hands had nails that were real claws, and even at that distance, I could see it. It was like a batwoman, and that batwoman swooped down towards me. 

The air got stuck in my lungs, I turned around, and started running. I ran with everything I had in myself. But still, the black stain passed over my side and made me stop abruptly, almost stumbling. The batwoman seemed to make a curve around a tree and advanced towards me. This time, I didn't have a way to defend myself. Her body collided with mine, throwing me about three meters away, and I bet it would have been more if my body hadn't hit a rock. 

My ribs all gave a sign of life, and I was moaning in pure pain. My back burned so much that I felt my eyes water in reaction to the agony I was feeling. I heard the sound of wings and tried to get up. I was unarmed and lost in the forest, but my survival instinct still gave me the basic notion of 'if you stay, the monster will eat you'. 

The batwoman was flying towards me again, but this time, I managed to throw my body to the side. Still, her claws hit my chest, giving me three cuts, from my collarbone to the right side of my lap, tearing my shirt and skin. I screamed in pain. I struggled to get up, but I knew I needed to run. My body was reeling, my back was still complaining, and blood was running down my clothes. I saw the figure rising in front of me, flying and taking its time as if announcing its attack. The batwoman swooped down and I knew I wouldn't be able to protect myself. 

That was until something came practically flying to my left, it held my body and made us spin in the air. When we hit the ground, the body that had hugged mine, served as a shock absorber. 

"Waverly!" Nicole sat up quickly on the floor, and I was still on her lap. "Oh Zeus, you are hurt!"

I opened my mouth to try to say something, but my voice died, and my eyes widened when the sinister batwoman came into view. Not caring about anything at that moment, other than our lives, I grabbed Nicole in desperation. 

She followed my gaze and stretched out a hand, firing a lightning bolt at that monstrous bat. Unfortunately, she deflected and flew a little closer to us, looking at us in a diabolical way. 

"A fury?!? How did it get in here?!" Nicole asked herself, taking the lighter out of her pocket. "Get out of here or you will die!"

"My Master wants the girl." The fury said, flapping her wings and looking at me with disgust. "It is an offense that my lord sent me to such a mediocre job."

"Many people must have seen my lightning, and soon this place will be filled with demigods. You will go to Tartarus! Even if you manage to get her, you will not be able to escape in time." Nicole said quickly. 

The batwoman, or fury, as Nicole said, seemed to reflect on what the demigod had said. 

"You will also be captured, bastard. Just like the other little girl was!" Having said that, the monstrous woman spun in the air then fell towards the ground. But at the time of impact, she just turned to smoke. 

I let out a sigh of relief and moaned promptly, each rib of mine seemed to have been hit, sending powerful waves of pain through my entire body. 

"Waverly, I'm going to try to get up." Nicole murmured and moved, but my body seemed to hurt even more and I screamed in pain.

"Okay, everyone must have seen the lightning bolt, and they're coming." She looked down at my condition and grunted. "Shit, you are bleeding a lot!"

"You were right." I said slowly and with difficulty. "I will die soon and stupidly, won't I?"

"No, you are not going to die, ok? Hey, Waverly, don't fucking close your eyes! If you pass out now, it will be even worse."

"Admit to me that you are an idiot-" I coughed and my body shrank in pain. "Everything hurts!"

"Jeremy will take care of you, okay? Hold on a little longer, you're strong, you can do it."

"Cole..." I called her using a nickname that came out naturally, my mind getting weak. Maybe it was the loss of blood, maybe it was the scare that still didn't make me think straight, or maybe I was about to die and I felt like I had to say a few things to her. "Surviving is important, but living is too."

"They're the same thing, Earp!"

"No, you survive, but you don't live. Nobody lives alone and is happy."

"This is not the time for us to have this conversation. Even when you're hurt you try to get yourself into my life!"

"I do that because I know that deep down, you are a little nice. But just a...a ...a little..."

"Waverly! I'm going to start hitting you so you don't close your eyes, I'm warning you!"

"I-" I stopped talking because it was just too difficult to breathe at the moment. I sought the air more and more, but it was as if there was a stone in my throat and with each attempt, everything seemed to hurt even more. It was very easy to surrender to the darkness that was taking over my vision. At least it would stop the pain. 

"NICOLE!" I heard Wynonna's voice from very far. 

"Thanks to ZEUSI" Nicole shouted with a desperation that I had never heard before. "HERE WYNONNA! WAVERLY'S HURT! RUN!" 

It didn't even take three seconds for Wynonna's to show up. I could see her frightened expression for my condition, and I tried to smile. 

"I know, I look awful."

"Jeremy!" Wynonna screamed nervously.

After that, everything was just a blur. I saw Jeremy, and I felt like I was being carried, but I could barely process where I was going. The pain was so strong that it was taking over all my senses. I couldn't know what happened next, because finally, I passed out.


	9. Chapter 9

Nicole's P.O.V.

I knew I was a difficult person to deal with. At least, most of the time. But I also knew that I had to admit that the things I said to Waverly surpassed 'difficult to deal with'. I really meant to hurt her, I desperately needed her to stay away from me.

Because I was starting to care. My number one rule of survival was: don't create bonds with anyone, you'll have fewer problems and fewer people to care about. 

But the truth was, I was starting to get used to her. Her intrusive way of getting of asking questions when they weren't needed, her curiosity, that put her in a lot of trouble. But she was also stubborn and persistent and when she had something she wanted to do, she wouldn't give up. She was smart, always had an answer or a provocation ready in her mind to give me. She was also an idiot, but a kind of funny idiot, and I sometimes even had fun with the odd things the brunette did. 

However, I only realized that on that fateful night. I knew she was there without even seeing her. The air brought that fragrance of flowers that I secretly liked so much. At first, I felt uncomfortable that she was once again invading my personal space, but it happened so often that I just got used to it. 

Then, she started her typical question marathon. When I told her about Liz, I understood how easy it was to talk to Waverly. 

And I never told anyone about Liz. I didn't like to talk about my family. Only that I had run away because it was necessary. Not even Dolls, or Shae, my ex-girlfriend, knew the whole story.

I felt desperate because, in my mind, I was breaking my first rule of survival and it scared me. I said things to her that I didn't believe in. I knew Waverly was sensitive, but I didn't expect that I would also be that affected by her words. As soon as the smaller girl left, I had a fit of fury. I was angry. Angry with myself, angry with her, and angry with at the world. 

But then, her first cry for help echoed. Distant, desperate, hurt. I would know how to recognize it anywhere, I listened to it for almost 48 hours when we fled home. 

My body acted first that my mind, and I found myself running through the forest in the same direction that I had heard the scream. If she was in danger, it would be my fault! I saw that she was going in the wrong direction, but I didn't do anything because I was so angry that I just didn't want to see her anytime soon. 

However, it was worse than I imagined. Waverly was facing a fury and would be hurt if I didn't do anything. So, using wind manipulation to dramatically increase my speed, I let the air currents take my body towards her. I got her and I promised myself that I would never put her in danger again. 

Furies were dangerous beings, they came directly from the underworld. They were the personification of revenge. They punished mortals, and served Hades, king of the Underworld. 

After Wynonna showed up with Jeremy and the others, we took Waverly to the infirmary and I was kicked out by Jeremy, who threatened to stick arrows in an unpleasant place if I didn't leave, he wanted everyone out so he could do his job right.

So I went straight to Nedley, he needed to know what was going on. And as if he was reading my mind, the centaur galloped towards the demigods who were grouping near the infirmary, curious to know what was going on. 

"We need to talk." I told Nedley.

"What is going on?" He asked, looking at the infirmary.

"Earp was attacked again." I explained to him, feeling guilt run through my body. "And I think I know who's responsible for them."

We exchanged a serious look and Nedley motioned for him to follow. We headed towards the Big House, where there was still no sign of Mr. D.. When Nedley passed through the door, he assumed his human form in a wheelchair. I sat down on one of the sofas and started to swing my leg up and down. 

"Tell me, Nicole, what happened?" Nedley asked carefully. 

"A fury appeared in the forest and attacked Waverly when she was returning to the party." He didn't need to know that she got lost because of me, or that we fought. "If I took a little longer to get there, if I wasn't around... she..."

The idea of Waverly dying made my heart smash as if an invisible hand squeezed it. I looked down and took a deep breath. 

"But the fury said something interesting. She said that her 'Master' wanted Earp. We both know who the lord of the furies is, Nedley."

The man's eyes widened in shock. Hades was after Waverly. He was the god of the underworld and the dead, he commanded and guided all the souls that died. Zeus's older brother, both were almost like mortal enemies. 

"What would he want with her?" Nedley seemed to ask himself. 

"I thought she could be his daughter. There are several pieces of evidence for that. She commanded a hellhound with verbal orders only." I said interested. "But then it would be weird, right? Why would he attack his own daughter?"

"No...There's something bigger than that." Nedley let out a tired sigh. "Something is happening, Mr. D. doesn't give me any news, but the gods are reclused, and monsters are grouping more than usually."

"These are not good signs."

"They never are, my child. Now come on, you did a good job of protecting the girl. In fact, that is becoming a kind of a specialty of yours, isn't it?"

I cleared my throat awkwardly. It was true. This was not the first time I had saved Waverly, and deep down, I knew it wouldn't be the last. 

Nedley dismissed me and I promptly went to the infirmary, abruptly pushing anyone in front of me. As soon as I walked in, I found Waverly in a bed, sleeping. Her tanned skin was pale and almost lifeless, and she was wearing only a cloth covering her breasts. Jeremy was applying some kind of green paste over the wounds.

"Is she ok?" I asked apprehensively. "Will she be okay, Chetri?" 

"Yes, she just lost a lot of blood." He said taking a quick look at me and then went back to work. "The cuts were poisoned, so I'm using this before making the stitches. Unfortunately, I think it will leave a thin scar." 

"What the hell attacked her?" Wynonna demanded to know. 

"A fury. She wanted to take your sister." I leaned against a wooden pillar and realized how tired I was. 

"Gods." Wynonna murmured surprised. "A monster like that, invading the camp, and out of the underworld!"

That comment was enough to leave those inside the infirmary silent. Strange things happened all the time. An invasion or other was common, but not from a monster as powerful as a fury. Doc was the first to manifest, leaving, and taking Rosita with him. 

"I'm done." Jeremy said almost sighing. "Now, all she has to do is wake up. She will feel pain because of her back, but then we can just give her some ambrosia."

"I'll watch her." I warned him. 

"The right thing would be for me to stay-"

"I will stay, Jeremy." I said harder, looking at him coldly. 

He lifted his hands in surrender and left the ambrosia on a table beside the bed where Waverly was. The last one to leave was Wynonna, who was practically sleeping on her feet. She only left after making me promise to take care of her sister and saying that she would be back soon.

I let out a long breath when I finally found myself alone with Waverly, and pulled out a wooden chair, sitting by the bed, trying to get comfortable. 

"Hey Nicole."

The female voice made me jump in fright. I was so tired that I didn't even hear it when someone entered the infirmary. But I was even more surprised to see Eliza there, with a tray in her hands. She was looking at me uncertainly, biting her lower lip. The Aphrodite's daughter walked at a slow pace as if making clear her intention to approach. 

"Doc told me you would probably be here, so I figured you were going to be hungry during the night and decided to bring this."

"I don't need your kindness, Eliza." 

Yes, I was being rude with the daughter of love. It was one of the rules of survival. Cut ties that hurt you unnecessarily. Eliza did nothing to hurt me, we were friends in the past. Me, her, Chrissy... And Shae. 

It was Eliza's fault that I had approached Shae and assumed that I liked girls. She encouraged me, telling me to try it while I still could, because 'we never know what can happen tomorrow'. Looking at Eliza reminded me of that time when I had my guard down, it reminded me of the day when Shae renounced me to live in an eternal hunt with the goddess Artemis. 

"I know you don't, but I still want to." She put the tray on a table. "I still worry about you, Nicole." 

"What the hell! Why don't all of you realize that I don't want this? I don't care about any of you, and you shouldn't care about me." I said angrily. 

"If you don't care about any of us, what are you doing here watching Waverly?" 

I freezed. What was I doing there? I had acted so much on impulse when I was worried about Waverly that I hadn't even realized what my actions meant. Before it was my survival instinct that spoke louder. But now? I was there, in an infirmary, worried about a clumsy and injured girl. 

"It was my fault." I closed my eyes. "She wouldn't have been hurt if we hadn't fought."

"Why did you two fight?"

Eliza was now close. I looked at her suspiciously, on the defensive. But I always found it easy to talk to Aphrodite's daughter in front of me. She knew how to recognize my limits and always helped me distract from my problems. 

"She was getting too close. So I pushed her away." I tried to summarize. "In an uncool way. I said terrible things to her."

"Nicole, have you ever stopped to think that maybe Waverly doesn't need to try to get too close, because she already is?" 

"What do you mean by that?"

"That maybe you care about her." 

Did I? No, that was against my rules. My stupid rules of survival. I couldn't care less. 

"I'm just feeling guilty." I justified grumbling. "You don't know what you're saying, Shapiro."

"I don't? Oh, so now I'm a daughter of Aphrodite who doesn't know how to recognize feelings when I see them!" She exclaimed dramatically. "This is not a bad thing, Cole. You don't have to be alone." 

"I WANT to be alone, I want to survive it all, but alone." 

"What about living?"

"Now you sound like her. I'm tired of it, Eliza. Just leave." 

"Well, she IS right." Eliza said, looking nervous. "But I'll leave because I care about you. Everyone does! Even though you let Wynonna and Dolls get close, they still don't know anything about you. Nicole, you are just surviving. This is not a way to live. Because living requires experiencing new risks. To survive is just to be afraid of your own shadow." 

"I'm afraid of nothing!" I shouted. 

"You are! So much that you keep everyone away, afraid of being hurt again. So you don't let anyone get close enough to do that. But you were not the only one who lost people or was abandoned. I lost my best friend too, you know? Or rather, I lost two friends!" 

Yes, I was afraid of the things that Eliza had said. But what is the problem of protecting yourself for fear of suffering again? I was aware of all this, how cowardly I was when it came to relationships. But I had never seen it from another angle than mine. It was always MY suffering, it was MY anguish, it was MY survival. As stupid as it could be, I never stopped to think about how Shae's departure hurt Eliza and Chrissy too. 

I put my hand over my eyes and tilted my head back. I was completely lost. 

"Just risk it sometimes, Nicole." Eliza said with a broken voice, trying to swallow the crying. "Take a little risk. People will not be there just to help you survive, but to endure all the bad weight and add a little more color to this crazy world we live in." 

"I don't want to care." I whimpered and looked at Waverly, my heart squeezing once more when I saw her condition. 

"You already do. If you try to fight it, you're just going to hurt yourself and her." 

I took a deep breath and shook my head slowly. We were silent for a while and Eliza decided to leave, whispering a 'bye'. I didn't dare to answer. I was realizing how selfish I had been with her and Chrissy. But what could I do? How could I change? 

(...)

Twelve hours later and Waverly still hadn't woken up. As soon as it was morning and Jeremy appeared, I went to my empty cabin to sleep. I was exhausted physically, and mentally, and as soon as I laid in my bed, sleep came over me completely.

I don't know how long I slept, but when I woke up I was starving. I got up and it seemed as if I hadn't rested at all. I took a long, hot shower, and left the cabin to the infirmary. I was only expecting to find Jeremy there. But I came across Waverly sitting on the bed, eating something from a bowl. She was wearing the camp shirt and had a messy hair. I practically froze in place, she was awake. 

"I was about to see if you were alive." Wynonna joked hitting my back. "You just blacked out for the whole morning and afternoon. I've never seen you sleep so much." 

I looked at Wynonna angrily, she was anything but delicate, and my back was already hurting from the other night's events. But then, I looked awkwardly at Waverly. She had stopped eating and was staring at me. 

"Is she ok?" I asked, looking away, at Jeremy. 

"Yes, ambrosia accelerated the procedure just as I imagined" The Apollo's son smiled, feeling relaxed. 

"I'm here, and I can answer for myself, thank you." Waverly interrupted. 

"So answer me, are you ok?" I asked, rolling my eyes. 

"I'm fine, the ambrosia sped up the procedure just as Jer imagined." Waverly replied. I rolled my eyes again and Wynonna laughed. 

That was actually a relief because if her sense of humor was fine, it meant she was better, right? I looked around without knowing what to do, feeling completely out of place there, but not really wanting to leave. 

"Well, then, I'm leaving," I said at last.

"Wait." Waverly said and I looked at her immediately. "Did you see my necklace there?" 

Only then, I noticed that she was no longer wearing the chain that was always around her neck. I frowned. 

"It was all too fast, I didn't really notice it." I was sincere. 

"Ok." She said disappointed, turning her attention back to the food. 

So, that was it? I sighed tiredly, turning around and leaving the infirmary without actually saying goodbye to anyone. Then, I saw Dolls passing by, and an idea popped into my mind. I ran towards him, grabbing him by the arm. 

"Hey, Cole!" He grunted for the abrupt approach. 

"I need your help." He raised his eyebrows surprised, I never asked for help. "Do you have a metal detector?" 

"No, but I can build one in an hour." He said confused. 

"Ok, do it. I'm going to eat something in the meantime." 

"What do you plan on doing with it, Nicole?" 

"I want to find something in the forest. Be ready with the device in an hour, Dolls." 

Before he denied or asked any more questions, I walked away toward the cafeteria. Finding her necklace would be a good way to apologize, wouldn't it?


	10. Chapter 10

Waverly's P.O.V.

I woke up feeling terrible pain. But as soon as Jeremy appeared with that miraculous liquid called ambrosia, I got better, until I felt no pain at all. The fight against the batwoman left its marks. Three very thin lines went from my collarbone to my hips, almost imperceptible to the human eye, but they're enough for me to feel them. 

"So, did you know that Haughtstuff spent the whole night with you?" Wynonna commented as we walked towards Cabin 11 after I was discharged. 

"I doubt it." 

Nicole's words still echoed in my mind. But, despite what she had said, she had saved me. Again. 

"Well, she did. She kicked Chetri out and said she would keep an eye on you." My sister said and smiled. "And I bet she had just woken up and went straight to see you." 

"Yeah, sure." I said sarcastically. "Why would Nicole do such thing?" 

Wynonna just shrugged. I didn't want to think about the redhead, she was confusing and annoying. Though I had to admit, she was always in the right place at the right time to help me. When we got to Hermes' cabin, I was able to take a long shower, after being approached by everyone inside, including Champ. 

"Hey, Nonna." I called her, who was lying on her bunk. "I'm going to the Big House to get some books from the library. Jer freed me from my obligations for the rest of the day and I want to take the opportunity to read in the glade". 

The glade was a place that Wynonna had shown me when I got to the camp. It was close to the beach and it was one of the quietest places there. She nodded and turned on the bed, sleepily. I left, and on my way, I was approached by some campers. That was nice. Some people cared enough about me to check if I was okay. Of course, I was still thinking a lot about my mother and coming home but, I already felt some affection for Camp Half-Blood. 

At the Big House's library, I got two books on Greek mythology. I had spent most of my days training and on certain camper duties, so at that point, I felt like I had to learn, study, and know a little more about myself. 

I spent a long time in the glade reading absently. The place was just perfect, surrounded by nature and filled with the peace I needed at the moment. Sometimes I could even hear the sea nearby. There were so many things on those books that I lost track of time while I was there. 

"Staying that focused is dangerous, you know?" 

The scare was so big that I practically threw the book in the air. Luckily, Nicole was an excellent demigod and caught it before it could hit the ground. She was sitting across me, with a guilty smile. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked, more in shock than being rude. 

"Wynonna said you would be here." 

Nicole looked away from me to the book, closing it, but not before putting a leave between the pages so I knew where I had stopped. She handed it over and cleared her throat. Was Nicole Haught embarrassed? As if to prove it, she nervously ran her hand through her hair. Oh yes, Zeus' powerful daughter was embarrassed. 

"You are extremely confusing." I ended up saying and let out a tired sigh. "Sometimes, you're annoying. Other times, you're arrogant and even cruel. And other times, you're saving me and being kind. And now you're here, not saying anything and all awkward. I can't understand you, Nicole." 

"You don't need to understand me." Nicole said with tense shoulders, ready to assume the proud posture she always had. But then, she shrank, rubbing the back of her neck and looking away. "You just need... Hm... You were invading my space, I don't know how to deal with it because I don't want anyone else in my life. It's easier that way, but nobody seems to want to let me live the easy way. I don't want to get hurt again, ok? So I attacked you to keep you away, I didn't really want to say those things." Nicole just started talking, getting extremely nervous, then she started looking all over, except at me. "Then Eliza showed up at the infirmary, saying stupid things that keep repeating in my head, and it's so annoying, but she was right, and-" 

"Nicole!" I walked towards her and held her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. I could barely keep up with what she was saying. "Just apologize." 

I let go of her face and saw her take two deep breaths. She seemed to be in a battle with herself, her eyes closed, her breathing unstable, despite her efforts to control it. But at the same time, she seemed to be even more awkward, as if she didn't know how to simply apologize. 

"Earp, I... Well, I..." Nicole tried and closed her fists. "I'm sorry, I apologize for my inappropriate behavior and the things I said." 

I looked at her in disbelief at the way she had apologized like it was the hardest thing she had ever done. Then, I started laughing. 

"You are more scared to apologize than to face a monster." I said, laughing even more. 

"It's easier. When it's a monster, you just face it, but apologizing... You have to accept you're wrong." Nicole said. "And I can't make mistakes, because when I do, bad things happen." 

She looked at me in that guilty way. Yes, if she had not had those despicable attitudes towards me, I would not have left. But at that moment, I saw a Nicole that I had never met before. One who apologized, one who cared. 

"See, I was right." I said convinced. "You know how to be nice. But just sometimes." 

"I'm not only nice, I'm incredible, Earp. There's nothing on diminutive about me." She had that look, the one she gave me when she thought she was superior. 

"Well, I have to say though, diminutives suit you. Little lightning princess." 

"Take that back right now!"

"Nope." 

"Waverly Earp!"

"What, Pikachu?"

"You've got 3 seconds to run." 

Obviously, I spun around and started running. She chased me closely, but she couldn't reach me. I laughed, having fun, and heading towards the beach. A big root appeared in my path, and I jumped, almost spinning in the air in a pirouette. I kept running with everything I had because I could hear Nicole still behind me. 

I reached the sand and felt my feet sink. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Nicole flying, it was amazing how she could control the air currents on her favor. After a few moments, Nicole was landing right in front of me. I tried to stop, but nothing prevented my body from colliding with hers. The Zeus's daughter, in a quick movement, unbalanced me and threw me on the sand, sitting on top of my stomach. 

"Take back what you said and admit that I'm the best." Nicole ordered seriously. 

"Never!" I shouted. "You are just an arrogant-" I was interrupted when Nicole put two fingers on my shoulder and shocked me. "Hey!" I hit her hard on the shoulder, getting another shock on my arm. "Stop it!" 

"Admit it!" 

"Ok, ok. I admit, that you are irritating, egotistic, idiotic, and a daddy's little princess." I said angrily because of the shocks I was receiving while giving a sequence of slaps on her arm. 

Nicole seemed to be enjoying herself, but struggled to hold me, and grabbed my wrists, placing them over my head. 

"Then... just accept my apologies."

That caught me off guard. The redhead was looking at me seriously, anxiously, as if she needed my answer. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of green, locked on mine while she waited. The slightly furrowed brow made clear the seriousness of her words, the expectation she had. 

"Well, despite you being an idiot-" 

"You already said that." She interrupted my little speech. 

"I'll say it as much as necessary." I rolled my eyes and smiled. "You saved my life, again, and I forgive you. Thank you, Nic." 

Her eyes widened. Where did that nickname come from? I was about to apologize for the silly nickname when she smiled. Gods, what a smile! She looked beautiful. 

"Nic is so... tacky." Nicole smirked, and my heart skipped a beat. "But since I'm an idiot sometimes, I'll let you use that nickname." 

"Only sometimes? I can make a list here of-" 

"Unnecessary." She rolled her eyes and the smile gradually died. "I didn't find your necklace. I apologize." 

"Hmm?" I asked distracted.

"Your necklace. I went looking for it, I had thought it would be easier to apologize if I found it for you. I forced Dolls to build a metal detector and we looked for it. But we couldn't find it." 

"You went looking for it? Really?" 

"I just said that, and I'm pretty sure my shocks don't make anyone slow." I could laugh at the way Nicole's humor changed so quickly. One hour, loving and smiling, the other, that. 

"You know, you could let me go now," I said, moving my hands. Nicole blinked as if she finally noticed what position we were in. 

I could have sworn she blushed a little, but the demigod promptly got off me and turned away. I sat and cursed Nicole mentally, it would take years to get that sand out of my hair. We were sitting with our backs to each other, her body facing the sea and mine facing the forest.

"Thank you for trying to find it. The necklace is really important to me, it was the last gift that my dad gave me before he went away." "Wait, your dad?" "Well, it's kind of complicated. My mom, Michelle, is Wynonna's mom, as I just found out. But, she is not my real mother. I'm adopted. So Wynonna's kind of my half-sister. And, now... oh my god. It's so confusing. My real father is named Julian, and he's definitely human. But Wynonna's real father is Hermes. Which means maybe we're not even real sisters..." "I'll pretend I understood what you just told me." She said confused. "You know, I really think you have a good heart Nic, you just don't know how to show it to other people." 

"You're invading my personal space, again." She turned her face towards me. "Why is it so hard to accept that I want to be alone? That I am a coward who would rather hide than face my feelings?" 

At that moment, I discovered the word that fit Nicole perfectly. Insecurity. She was afraid of being hurt again, of relationships and of losing a part of herself.

"I was once afraid of not having friends." I revealed. "You know, I had to move constantly and I was never able to solidify someone in my life. It would just be me and Mama. So I was always afraid of not making any friends. But then, I found Wynonna and she was the one who inspired me to wake up every morning and go to school. To want to live things next to her." 

"What if you had to move again? You would have to say goodbye to Wynonna, and maybe you would never discover she's your sister, you'd be alone again. Wouldn't it be even worse? Isn't it better to be alone and avoid suffering?" 

"No." I denied and smiled a little. "Because I would stop experiencing really good things, I would have lost much more. Of course, I would suffer, but the good memories would remain and I would not regret any of them." I looked up, already being able to see the stars appearing in the sky, how was it already so late? "Then, I would try again, with someone else." 

"And probably get hurt again." 

"Maybe. But then I would have more memories, more happy moments. And sometime, someone would stay. Someone would make a difference, just like Wynonna did."

"It's too risky." 

"The best things in life are." I looked at her and saw all the confusion that was those green eyes. "Nic, happiness are moments. It's something fast that happens without planning. One moment you are happy, and on the next, something can happen and bring it all down, but that's how life works. I'm sorry to tell you, but moments of happiness are normally created when we have someone to share them with." 

She looked at me for a few seconds and slowly looked away to the sea. This was the first time I had talked to Nicole civilly, without threats, and without chasing after each other. 

A powerful emotion came over me when I realized that she was letting me get closer. That she was trying. That was definitely a happy time for me. I couldn't explain why I felt this way, but it just happened. 

"We should get back, I don't want to be in trouble because of you, Waves." Nicole stood up suddenly. 

"Waves?" I asked, lifting my eyebrows. 

"Yes, you gave me a nickname, I will also give you one." 

"Help me up." 

"Nope." 

I dropped my mouth in surprise and saw her start walking without even waiting for me. Okay, Nicole was still Nicole. The problem? I was starting to learn to like her like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, Wayhaught fluff... Finally!
> 
> I know the part about Waverly's mom/dad is getting a bit confusing... and I'm sorry!  
> I'll try to explain it here:
> 
> Julian is Waverly's real father. You are going to find out who's her real mother soon (it's a goddess). Mama Earp/Michelle Earp is Waverly's adoptive mom.
> 
> Hermes is Wynonna's real father. Michelle is Wynonna's real mother.
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and kudos, I'm glad you're all enjoying it!


	11. Chapter 11

Nicole's P.O.V.

Some time had passed. Summer was over and the majority of campers had returned to their homes. I could say that in the last few days, a lot had changed. I did not fail to have my strong personality, to quarrel with anyone when I was angry, and to react rudely. But, at dinner, on that same night I talked to Waverly, I asked Eliza to talk. She was so thrilled that even I felt good about it. 

Waverly returned to training, which surprised me a little. After the things I said to her, I thought she would avoid me, even though she said she forgave me. I didn't dare question it though, I just smiled when I saw her entering the arena yawning. She hadn't slept well, said she had had a confusing nightmare. At first, I had planned to take it easy, we were kind of returning to 'peace' and I didn't want to abuse it. But Waverly was... different. When concentrated, she was able to move with more skill and precision, her reflexes were also much better. The brunette had even managed to disarm me in a combat simulation. 

One morning, I woke up excited. I would go hard on Waverly, to get to know her new limits and I was already having fun imagining her angry. I took a long shower and was about to get ready when I finally noticed. Someone had come into my cabin and messed with my stuff. Worse, they had stolen my favorite shirt, one that had my favorite singer in it, Lana Del Rey. This made my blood boil, I couldn't believe someone had stolen my favorite shirt! I closed the drawer aggressively, almost breaking the entire closet. I grabbed some clothes to get dressed and quickly left for the Hermes' Cabin. After all, if something was stolen, it could only have been a child of the god of thieves. 

"WYNONNA!" I shouted, knocking on the door of the cabin with fury. "Perry!" 

Although Wynonna is an incredible daughter of Hermes, Perry was the leader of the cabin. Soon, he opened the door. He was about to say something when I invaded the place angrily. 

"Where is it?" I stormed, looking all over the place. "Where did you put my Lana shirt?" 

"Nicole?" Wynonna woke up, putting her feet out of her bunk, and rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing? Trying to get into a fight this early?" 

"Someone stole my fucking shirt." I shouted at her, without bothering to take my anger out on others. "And only one of you would have the courage to do that!" 

"Nic?" Waverly left the bathroom, where she was probably getting ready for training. 

"I want my shirt!" I demanded and the air around me started to get agitated, promptly responding to my state of anger. 

"It's not because something is missing that it's our fault, get out of here, Nicole." Perry intervened, playing his role as a leader. "You do not want to fight the whole cabin." 

"I could kick every single one of your asses easily!" 

"Wow, slow down." Wynonna got offended. "You can't just come in here and insult my brothers." 

"Well, your little brothers stole from me!" "You don’t even have any evidence. You probably just lost it and you're making a big deal about it." "I didn’t lose my shirt. IT WAS STOLEN! Someone messed with my stuff and only children of Hermes could get in without me waking up." 

"Or maybe you can’t even notice when someone's entering your palace, little daddy's princess."

I was about to move towards Wynonna, ready to hit her when many arms grabbed me. They started pushing me out of the cabin even though I was still yelling at her. The confusion was so great that many other demigods were already outside watching the scene. I took advantage of the moment and shouted at them. 

"I REALLY HOPE MY SHIRT SHOWS UP, OR I'LL CHECK EVERY SINGLE CABIN!" 

"You can't do that." A satyr warned. "It's against the rules and you would be punished." 

"Shut up, goat!" I yelled. 

"Nicole." Nedley showed up and said seriously. "You will spend the rest of the morning cleaning the kitchen." 

"They stole from me, Nedley!" I said incredulously, my blood boiling even more. 

"Then you should have informed me, in the right way." He pointed towards the cafeteria. "Kitchen. Now!" 

Not even I was able to disobey Nedley when he assumed that posture of "you better do as I say or it will be worse". I grunted and stumbled over anything that came my way. I spent the morning peeling vegetables, stressed out, and making devilish plans for whoever had stolen my favorite shirt. I loved it, it had been one of the things I had managed to gain when I had a normal life, with my family. Liz had thought it was beautiful and I bought it with my own money. That item took me back to one of the few good memories I had. One of my happy memories. 

When thinking about it, Waverly came to my mind. Shit, that girl was right. 

As soon as I was done with my punishment, I started to search the camp for my shirt. I spent the whole afternoon threatening, mumbling, and looking. I even received help from Dolls, Eliza, and Chrissy. Wynonna was pissed at me, but I felt the same way about her. She should have stayed by my side, I was her friend, right? Or at least, I thought so.

I was going through the forest, coming back in yet another failed attempt of finding the shirt. I no longer knew where to look and the thought of not having it back upset me. I heard quick footsteps and stopped, was it some wild animal? But then, I saw a long brown-haired girl running quickly, with someone at her side. And just like whenever Waverly Earp was distracted, she bumped into me, almost falling to the ground. I held her in my arms just in time, almost laughing at how disastrous she was when she was distracted. 

"This is becoming a habit of yours." I said, but without any irony in my voice. I was tired after that long and frustrating day. 

"Nicole?!" Waverly looked up scared. 

I frowned at her reaction. I looked to the side and saw a boy, around twelve years old. He looked scared like he was about to cry. That was strange, so I looked at Waverly in doubt. That was until I saw my shirt in her hands. The light-colored fabric was dirty, the image of Lana still intact, but the sides... The right side was torn! My breathing quickened as the rage came through, taking my being again. I took my shirt without any delicacy, pulling it out of her hands and lifting it in front of me. 

"I'M SORRY, I DIDNT WANT TO DO THIS!" The boy said crying, starting to leave carefully.

I looked away at him. -

"I'm going to end your life." I growled and started running after him. 

"No, Nicole!" 

Waverly threw herself in front of me. I dodged and saw the boy running into the forest. I was already starting to manipulate the air when something jumped on my back and threw me on the ground. I got up, getting angrier each moment that passed. 

"They made Tony do this, it's not his fault!" Waverly spoke quickly. "They threatened him." 

"He should be more scared of me than anyone else!" I shouted and pushed her. "Get out of my way, you are not the one I want to hurt. Or will you be on his side?!" 

"I'm not choosing sides, you stupid!" She ran in front of me again. "I was looking for your shirt all day too, you know?" 

"I did not ask for your help, I did not ask you to do anything, so, GET OUT OF MY WAY!" 

"Nicole, you are nervous right now, you might actually hurt the boy." 

"I'm just going to teach that kid a lesson, and not even a divine force will stop me from doing so. I don't want to hurt you. So, excuse me." 

I was about to run again when she grabbed my arm, tighter than I had ever felt. She turned my body and took my shoulders. I was about to push her when she did the most unexpected thing in the world. Waverly held my face in her hands, stood on her tiptoes, and pressed her lips against mine. 

Waverly Earp was kissing me. 

Her lips trembled against mine, but they were still soft and delicate. My heart was crushing my chest, beating frantically and hard. I was completely shocked, not knowing what to do. Waverly stepped away after a few seconds, widening her eyes as if she didn't believe what she had just done. We were breathless, I was still overwhelmed by what had just happened. Waverly had just kissed me. I shifted my gaze from her eyes to her mouth. 

"Nicole, I-"

It was as if a need broke through me. I wouldn't let her apologize, not when I needed something else. My hand went up to her neck and I pulled her closer to me, sealing our lips again on a real kiss. The impulse was so strong that it was only afterward that I understood why. Waverly had an intoxicating taste, her soft lips molded mine, leaving me out of tune with the rest of the world, attached only to her. I asked for permission and I invaded her mouth with my tongue, looking for hers to touch and involve. 

I let go of my shirt, that had become completely insignificant at that moment. Now with my other free hand, I held Waverly's waist and pulled her towards me, gluing our bodies while still kissing her intensely. She was slow to respond, not knowing what to do or how to deal with it, and tried to pull me away by placing her hands on my shoulders. She surrendered when I sucked her tongue for a long time, letting out a muffled breath and wrapping my arms around her waist. I explored her mouth, while she was pressing her body against mine. We kissed with desire, one that until then, I didn't know existed. But it was so strong, it was impossible to resist. 

"Nic..." Waverly moaned softly, separating her lips from mine. I pressed them again, but after a few seconds, she stepped away. "Air, I need to... air." 

I needed it too, but kissing her was so... Oh my gods, I kissed Waverly! Finally understanding what I was doing, I pulled out, completely blushed, and awkward. 

"Waves, I... I don't know what to say." I said sincerely. 

She nodded, also awkwardly. If she freaked out, I could just say that she had kissed me first, right? Although, I had kissed her back after that. And I would do it again with great pleasure. 

"I will..." Waverly took a step, bent down and picked up my shirt on the floor, I had never seen her so shy. "I'm going to talk to Doc and Mercedes, and see if we can save your shirt, ok? Doc understands these things about clothes and Mercedes is Athena's daughter, Athena is the weaver goddess, so I'm just going... Yeah." 

"Okay." I answered softly.

Waverly nodded several times and practically ran away. I could try to recap the whole day in my mind, but the only thing that existed for me at that moment was the kiss. I had kissed Waverly. Waverly had kissed me. The moral of the story? I was screwed, because I liked it. Liked it too much. 

(...)

The next day, I was anxious, waiting for Waverly to start our daily training. I wanted to see her. I had rehearsed a thousand and one excuses and apologies, repeating it like a mantra in my head. I couldn't understand why, but the taste of her kiss still felt recent in my mouth, making me wish for more. 

However, she was late. Half an hour late. Something that had never happened before. Was it just because of the kiss? Ok, it wasn't just a kiss. But she could have at least showed up. 

"Haught." I heard Doc's voice behind me. "Your shirt." 

He threw it at me, making me pick it up in the air. It was like my shirt was brand new. A discreet seam patched the torn place. 

"Where's Waverly?" I asked a little angry, wasn't she the one who was supposed to give it back to me? 

"Wynonna said she is ill." He shrugged. "She is having nightmares, sleeping little, and eating even less. And you know how Waverly is like a little monster when it comes to food." 

What he said made my heart skip a few beats.

"Is it serious?" I asked, worried. 

Doc raised his eyebrows, perhaps surprised by my obvious concern, but I let it go. 

"No. She is sleeping now, Wynonna is taking care of her, forcing her to take some vitamins." 

"Ok... Thanks for letting me know." He left the arena, and I followed him, without any desire to have a workout alone. It didn't make much sense if Waverly wasn't there. I went back to my cabin, where I kept pacing around. I wanted to see her, but she was at Wynonna's cabin and I was still mad with the Hermes' daughter. I hadn't even spoken to her after what had happened the day before. I didn't want to, I was too proud. But Waverly was there. I mumbled loudly and went to the infirmary, looking for Jeremy. 

I found him with Kate, preparing some kind of medicinal herbs, one of those miracle ointments that he constantly used on injured campers. 

"Hey." I said, getting a chair and sitting next to them. "You're not busy, are you? I know you're not, so Jeremy, go see Waverly." 

"What does Wave have?" Kate looked at me. 

"You could really say 'please' sometimes, you know?" Jeremy complained. 

"I don't know." I answered Kate and then looked at Jeremy. "I know you care about her, Chetri, you'll go anyways. You two are friends and friends have a sad habit of taking care of each other." 

"So, are you friends now?" He asked and raised his eyebrows. "Because you're taking care of her." 

I looked away awkwardly, not knowing how to answer his question. After all, was Waverly my friend? 

"There's something different about Waverly." Kate said suddenly. "She had that necklace all the time, but after she lost it... I don't know, every time I saw that necklace, I felt something." 

"What you mean?" I looked at her intrigued. 

"I mean that the necklace could be magical." She explained. "I know how to recognize magical items very easily because I am Hecate's daughter. But this one, it was very subtle. Has she been acting weird lately?" 

"I didn't notice anything different." I frowned. "Still the same mess and still clumsy as always. But... she is much better at training." 

"Her nightmares started not long ago, after the fury attack when she lost the necklace." Jeremy added. "Maybe the necklace was hiding her presence?" 

"It would make sense, that's why her demigod presence would be so hard to notice. Wynonna and I always had this doubt when we were at school." I thought out loud.

"And she hasn't been claimed yet." Kate said. "This is so weird. Jer, I think we should go see her." 

"Keep me posted." I ordered. 

"You're really cute when you're worried about someone, Cole." Jeremy teased and smiled. 

"She's my student and she missed class, what am I going to do if I don't have Waverly to torture?" I mumbled, looking for the first excuse that came to mind.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." They both seemed to be holding back laughter. 

They walked away, discussing some possibilities of what was going on. I let out a long breath, having nothing more to do again, and with that irritating concern. It was like a constant pain in my chest, uncomfortable, and unnecessary. I went looking for Chrissy and Eliza, both in the strawberry fields, helping with the harvest. We talked more than we worked. The two were in a pleasant moment, exchanging passionate looks and smiles without even realizing it. 

I was going to my cabin, later in the afternoon, to take a shower and get ready for dinner. But before I could reach it, the door of Hermes' cabin opened abruptly and Waverly ran out of it desperately. Guess what? Yes, she ran into me. 

I held her, as always, keeping my grip firm on her arm so she wouldn't fall. I was about to make a joke when I finally noticed her condition. Waverly was pale, her body was sweating, and the camp shirt she wore was glued to her body. Her breathing was completely uneven, her brown eyes wide and frightened. 

"Waves, what happened?" I asked worriedly. 

"She... She is my sister. I finally understand it, Nicole. The girl of my dreams is my sister And she's going to die!" 

"Calm down, I don't understand anything, you need to sit and-"

"No, I'm sure! Wynonna told me to pay attention to dreams because the dreams of demigods are signs. This time I didn't run away from it... I'm sure Nic! Just as I'm sure that the sky is blue and that you are an idiot, I am sure that she is my sister! I can feel it!" 

"Thanks for the idiot part." I couldn't stop the comment from leaving my mouth and looked at her. 

Wynonna was right. Some dreams could be revealing. I knew that Waverly was involved in something big, that those moments of peace would eventually end. They always did. But before, I was only concerned with training her to survive. Now? I had to be beside her to make sure she lived. 

"I need you to tell me about the dream so I can help you, okay?" I said softly. 

"There's no time, the monster said she only has 48 hours! She's trapped in a dark, closed place, it's on the underground, I'm sure. And I swear I saw the Hollywood sign." 

"Shit." I mumbled connecting the dots. 

"You know where she is, don't you?" 

"Underground place, Hollywood... It's for sure in the underworld. Which happens to be where the 'master' who wants to capture you is." 

"So it's to California I have to go to." 

Waverly had stopped shaking and was determined.

"I know what to do." I said and her eyes shone with expectation. "I know someone who can help us enter the underworld. Shit, I can't believe I'm going to do this." 

"I have to go Nic, I have to save her. You just need to tell me where to go and I-"

"You are not going alone, Earp! Don't even think about it. I'll go with you. We also have to take Dolls." 

"Dolls?" 

"He has our mode of transportation. Go in and get your things. We should go now, everyone is in the cafeteria and they won't notice. Nedley would try to stop us, evaluate, and make it a formal mission. But California is on the other side of the country and we don't have enough time." 

"I need to tell Wynonna. I know this girl in my dreams is not actually family for her, and neither am I, even though I consider her my sister. But... I need to take her."

"Three is a sacred number Waves, if we go beyond that, we will draw much more attention from the monsters." I explained to her. "Go to the cabin, get a backpack, your sword, steal a dagger, and some money. A change of clothes and whatever you think is necessary. I'm going after Dolls, you have ten minutes." 

The brunette nodded and didn't need me to order a second time, she was already running into the empty cabin. I took a deep breath, cursing myself mentally as I headed towards the Dolls' smithy. Honestly, I was scared. But at that point, I'd do anything for Waverly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! In chapter 7, I introduced Mercedes as a daughter of Athena. This fanfic already exists, but in another language, with another couple. I am translating it and changing most things. But, it has a LOT of characters, so I've been having some difficulty to adapt it. 
> 
> I changed Mercedes' character. She's no longer a daughter of Athena, I hope it's not too confusing when you read this chapter.
> 
> Now, in chapter 7, you'll see that the leader of Athena's cabin is Bea, an original character.

Waverly's P.O.V.

After talking to Nicole, I ran into the Hermes' cabin, still trembling, and struggling to control myself. I couldn't be that weak girl again. I had to be strong for Sophia. 

My nightmares started small, but I always had them. I saw a dark, small place, and felt claustrophobic, which slowly led me to panic attacks. It was as if I was buried among the dead, the deadly presence was always there, in every corner, suffocating me. And then, I would wake up.

However, lately, they were increasing, getting worse. Every time, I would wake up screaming and waking up some Hermes' children in the middle of the night. Wynonna would lie down next to me and try to calm me down. They were always the same, but at the same time, I felt like something new was emerging. 

Like when I found out I wasn't alone in that place. A child, scared and huddled in the corner, with dirty clothes and messy hair. I felt the pain she was feeling, the fear of being in such a bad place, and alone. More and more, I saw the child, noticed that her features were similar to mine. In one of these dreams, a fury appeared bringing what appeared to be food. 

"Eat, the master doesn't want you to die yet." She said in her monstrous voice. 

"This food is bad." The little girl whimpered. 

"You are lucky to be still alive bastard, that will change in two days. My lord will question you once again and he will not be complacent like the last time. You will die, Sophia Wood." 

"No! I already told you I don't know where the girl is! Please, I just want to go home!" 

She started crying and the monster walked away indifferently. After a long time, the girl crawled to the bowl with the food, standing on the side where there was more light in that closed place. It was then that I really saw her. That I looked into her eyes and knew. Sophia, the little girl trapped, was my sister. I was certain of it.

I had another sister. She was trapped in a dark, underground place. And she would die in two days. 

When I woke, I practically fell out of bed, panting, sweating, knowing I had to do something. My first impulse was to run, get out, and take a deep breath. I was about to do so when I bumped into Nicole. 

I packed up everything she had asked for. I changed my clothes quickly, and I was just closing the hem of my sword on my waist when Nicole knocked on the door, putting her head inside the cabin. I took a deep breath, took the backpack I had borrowed from Wynonna, and left after her. 

"That's crazy, Nicole." Dolls grunted. 

"It doesn't matter, I'm charging you the favor of saving your life that time." Nicole said harshly and impatiently. 

"You could say 'please' sometimes, you know?" She just rolled her eyes. 

"Dolls... Sorry, but I... We need to go to Los Angeles. Can you please help us?" I showed up and said to him. 

"See? That's how you ask for help." Dolls pointed at me and made Nicole even more annoyed. "Now, shall we go? You two are very slow." 

I could bet that if Dolls wasn't her friend, Nicole would have punched him. Soon, he was walking quickly ahead of us, guiding us to the beach. I noticed that Nicole also had an old black backpack on her back, and had a jacket was tied around her waist. 

"What's the plan?" Dolls asked. 

"Go to L.A. and pay a visit to my uncle, the skull king." Nicole said shortly. 

"You what?!" Dolls stopped abruptly. "Nicole, this is insane! You guys can't go to the underworld." 

What he said made my stomach turn. I was starting to get scared, but the memory of my little sister locked up, and about to die was enough to make me forget about all the fear. 

"That's none of your business." Nicole snapped and pushed him back to walking. "It's a matter of life or death, literally." 

"You have to stop going on these suicidal missions. Did you tell Nedley? Did you go see the oracle?" 

"If I were to think about half the things I do before I do them, you wouldn't be here, right?! So, let's go, we don't have time to discuss this." 

Dolls grunted but started walking again. We arrived at a more remote and open area of Camp Half-Blood. The mood was tense, Dolls was still arguing with Nicole as he walked over to something huge, that was covered by a big cloth. 

"Enough! You're not going to fucking hell with us, you're just going to give us a ride to the neighborhood!" Nicole yelled at him. 

"What do you mean I'm not going?" 

"Three is a sacred number. How do you think we're going to enter the underworld, smartass?" 

"You... BY ZEUS, you're going to see Mercedes?!" 

"It's the best chance we've got." She shrugged. 

"She'll kill you." 

"Nope, she will try to kill me, but she will not succeed."

Dolls snorted, grabbed the black cloth, and pulled it away. My jaw dropped when I saw the red single-engine plane in front of me. It was like those old planes, with a propeller, and the guy opened a smile when he saw how surprised I was. 

"I built it myself." He bragged and approached the aircraft. "Don't be intimidated by the appearance, I haven't had a chance to finish and paint it yet." 

I looked around and saw Nicole ready to climb onto the back, while Dolls was already jumping into the cabin. 

"Is this safe?" I asked. 

"Yes." Nicole assured and settled on the plane, one foot on the wing and the other inside the cabin. "Now come, I will help you."

I approached and she leaned down, offering her hand. I picked it up and was waiting for her to pull me up, but she did more than that. With her free hand, she made a rotating gesture and it was as if a small swirl lifted my body like a feather. The fright almost made me scream. But Nicole was holding me in the next second, a firm hand over mine and the other one around my waist. She moved and put me inside the cabin, in the back seat, and handed me a helmet. At that moment, I was able to stare at her and my chest overflowed with sensations that I couldn't even begin to describe. Her short red hair was disheveled by the wind, her eyes a very light blue. She was there for me, and she did it without thinking twice about going to the underworld to help. But it was more than gratitude I was feeling, it was a feeling that I could not name, but that was very clear in my head. 

"Hey, Waves." She called me in a low tone, while Dolls was distracted turning the plane on. "We will save her, ok"? 

I sighed and saw her start to walk away, but I held her arm tight. The direct contact made my body quiver readily, but I ignored it. 

"Thank you." I said sincerely. "Thank you for helping me. I wouldn't know what to do without you." 

"I know, I'm awesome." Nicole blushed and tried to disguise with the joke. 

I finally let her go. She sat on the seat in front of me and put on the helmet. I took the backpack off my back and put it between my legs, also putting on the old helmet and seatbelt. I swallowed and closed my eyes when I heard the engines starting up like a monster roaring. I kept my eyes closed, my stomach turning with fear that everything was going to go wrong and the plane was going to explode. I only noticed that we were flying when I felt everything tilt back a little. 

I released the air I was holding and looked back seeing that the sunset was almost over. From up there, the strong colors of red and orange, beautifully colored the horizon. I shrank in my seat, feeling confused, lost, and determined at the same time. Nicole tilted her head to the side and looked back, looked at me with concern, but then smiled. That kind of smile that made her inevitably charming and made my heart skip a beat. In addition, the Zeus's daughter winked playfully and returned to the correct position, saying something to Dolls that I didn't bother to understand. I was busy looking to the side and struggling to return my normal face color since I knew I was blushed. 

Everything was happening too fast. It was too intense. Just like when I kissed Nicole in the woods. I knew that if she caught Tony, the frightened little boy, he would be emotionally hurt, and scared forever. I had seen it happen at school when a boy on the football team bumped into Nicole and pissed her off. No one knew what happened to him, just that he never dared to talk to her again. So, I had to do something to stop it or distract her. I can't say what went through my mind to make me kiss her. But when I understood what I was doing, my mouth was already pressed against hers and my heart felt like it was racing inside my chest. 

It was my first kiss. 

I have to say that I didn't really know what happened, I hardly knew what I did, just what I felt. It was as if Nicole was giving me small shocks all over my body, but caused only by the movements of her mouth over mine. 

Then, came the shock of reality. My first kiss was with a girl. But not just any girl, it was with Nicole Haught. The girl I thought was unbearable, stupid, rude, and shallow. And in fact, sometimes she was. But she was also protective and beautiful. Gods, she was absurdly beautiful. Accepting all of this left me in panic, my mind short-circuiting every time I looked for some kind of logic on what I had done. When I arrived at the cabin, Wynonna even tried to find out what had happened to me. But I simply asked her to leave me alone, completely avoiding the subject. 

I shook my head and I realized that it was completely dark. How much time did I spend wandering about in my thoughts? I blamed myself for thinking too much about Nicole when I had an unknown sister about to be taken to Hades, the king of the underworld. I had no idea how to get there or what the place was like. I figured it was hell or something. And who would take us there would be someone named Mercedes, who, unsurprisingly, wanted to kill Nicole. 

I was lost in my thoughts, trying to remember every detail of the dream, formulating possibilities, and feeling fear for what was coming. I was never a fearless heroine, on the contrary. I was still much more a human than a demigod. But the idea of having another sister and that she needed me prevailed over anything else, overcoming any negative feelings. 

(...) 

Almost four hours later, I felt my whole body hurt. Nicole was quiet for most of the time, letting Dolls talk to me during the trip. I discovered that Hephaestus' son could only use his aircraft with Nicole because Zeus did not like unknown demigods in his domain. Therefore, whenever he attempted a solo flight, he couldn't stay half an hour in the air before he was forced to descend, either by turbulence or by a storm that appeared out of nowhere. 

I was in the middle of a yawn when, as usual, everything suddenly changed. First, we heard a loud noise coming from the right-wing. Later, came a strong jolt that made my heart stop. When I looked to the right, I panicked even more. The wing was on fire! And soon, the plane started to go into turbulence and lose its altitude. 

"SHIT!" Dolls shouted. "What the hell was that?" 

Then came another attack. This time, it was as if two things hit the plane's tail hard, making the aircraft rotate about 180 degrees in the air. 

"Stymphalian birds!" Nicole identified the 'things' that had attacked us. 

I had no idea what that was, but I soon understood it. The sky cleared, a bolt of lightning illuminating everything around us for a few seconds. It was enough for me to see the birds with wings, beaks, and metal claws. They were huge, compared to the normal size of a bird, and there must have been at least six attacking us. 

"I'm going out, Dolls, put the plane down safely." Nicole got up and promptly took out her lighter from her pocket. 

"No!" I looked at her. "You will not fight by yourself!" 

"I will." Her blue eyes literally shined as she looked at me. "We are in the air and I'm the only one that has an advantage up here. Don't be stupid, Earp!" 

It was at these times that I wanted to hit Nicole while worrying about her even more. Did she always, always, have to fight the monsters alone to save me? After I heard the 'Earp', I got confused again. Was I a Gibson? No, that last name was made up. Was I an Earp? Not really, Michelle was not my actual mother. Was I a Woods? Maybe. What I knew was that, besides not being an actual Earp, I would always consider myself one. Michelle had taken care of me for all these years, and even though Wynonna hadn't been there for all this time, she took care of me too and she changed my life. I got back to reality and saw that Dolls had listened to Nicole, and opened the cabin, making the furious winds of the storm that was forming hit my face. I blinked several times until I put the glasses on the helmet, thus being able to see through that windstorm. Nicole was no longer there. I gasped and searched for her, finding her dominating a lightning bolt and hitting one of the metal birds. She could fly. I would never get used to the fact that she knew how to fly. 

"Hold on, Waverly! We will help her soon!" Dolls shouted to be heard. 

I held on tightly to the front seat when the plane started to descend. I did not contain the scream that came out of my mouth. Dolls found an open field and started to head there. The landing was anything but smooth, and as soon as we hit the ground I was almost thrown out of the cabin - which was still open.

"Come on!" Dolls jumped up and helped me out of the aircraft. My legs were shaking so badly that I had to lean on him even though I was already off the plane. 

"Nicole!" 

I lifted my face when I heard Dolls' call, just in time to see two birds attacking the redhead in the air from opposite sides. She managed to dodge just one, but the other caught her full, making her body spin and spin in the air as she fell. I started running in the direction that Nicole's body was falling, and I got even more desperate when I realized that I wasn't going to arrive in time and that I couldn't do anything to help her... Suddenly, I remembered that I also had certain abilities. 

I raised my hand and promptly felt that sharp tingle. I pointed to the ground and wished with all my strength that roots, leaves, and branches, would grow and form a kind of hand. And so, all types of vegetation began to grow from the ground, taking up all the space and rising against Nicole, forming thick fingers and a palm. Her body collided with my creation, breaking the weakest branches, but soon being supported by big pieces of wood. 

I let out a tired sigh and almost tripped, but Dolls held me and kept me running, putting an arm around my waist and looking at me shocked. As soon as we got close, Nicole was sliding down the 'hand'. The left side of her shirt was stained with blood, and her hair a real mess. But her eyes were still lucid, strong, and were a very shimmering light blue. 

"I have no idea how you did this." Nicole said breathlessly. "But it saved my life." 

"Well, at least once I could do what you do every day." I mumbled. 

Without thinking twice, I threw myself into her arms and hugged her with all my strength. Nicole moaned loudly in pain and I remembered that she was hurt. I pulled my body away and was about to apologize when my eyes opened in sheer terror. 

The birds were flying towards us. Nicole and Dolls turned around, following the direction of my gaze. There would be no time to escape. Once again, I acted without thinking. I pointed my hands to the ground, connecting with the earth. My stomach stirring with that abrupt and intense exchange of energy. I raised my hands and as if obeying a conductor's order, the earth rose up, forming a thick barrier of almost two meters. 

Nicole grabbed my body and crouched behind my barrier. In the next moment, I heard the metal birds hitting the earth. I closed my eyes tightly, listening to the noise of metal against metal, the fear trapped in my throat, preventing me from screaming. But as soon as it stopped, the two that were with me got up. Fireballs came out of Dolls' hands, and out of Nicole's, lightning bolts. The two advanced at the same time and intensified the attacks in sync. They were friends, they had trained and survived together. Fire and lightning together made a light show, until everything exploded into golden dust. 

I fell to the ground tired, holding onto my earth barrier. It took me a while to realize that it was raining, the storm having extinguished the plane's flames. 

"We need a shelter." Dolls spoke tiredly. "Before we fell, we were crossing the border between Colorado and Nevada. I know a place where we can hide." 

"You ok, Waves?" Nicole asked me. 

I just nodded my head. Nicole tried to bend down to help me, but she moaned in pain. Dolls was the one that helped me get up. We went to the plane to pick up our backpacks, Nicole having to walk supported by Hephaestus' son because of her bruised waist. My legs faltered and the cold seemed to get worse every step I took. After almost twenty minutes of walking, Dolls finally found a kind of cave in the middle of nowhere. It was huge inside and looked like it was stocked to be a shelter, containing some survival essentials. 

He sat Nicole in a corner on the floor, opening her backpack and reaching for a plastic bottle with a slightly shiny liquid. Nectar. He offered it to her, who took two big sips and pushed the bottle away. 

"It's safe here. We have to spend the night to recover. I will try to find something to make a fire or we will die of cold." 

We just nodded in silence and I watched Dolls go out into the storm, knowing that it would be incredibly difficult to find something to set fire to in the rain and using a cheap flashlight. The other one that Nicole had brought with her was being the only source of light in the shelter. 

A low, muffled groan caught my attention. Nicole had tried to move and she just increased the bleeding trying to do so. Although the nectar was healing her, it was always Jeremy who sped up the procedure. Guilt invaded my whole being in a tight hug. After all, she was hurt because of me. I was the one who got her involved in that whole story, without even thinking about the consequences. 

"Hey, we need to treat the wound. It will heal, but it won't do much good if you lose a lot of blood." I said, putting my hair up in a bun. 

"I'm fine." Nicole said weakly and rolled her eyes. 

"No, Nicole, you're not." 

"If I'm saying that I am, it's because I am!" 

I let out a long sigh and approached the Zeus' daughter, after taking the flashlight and lighting her body. Nicole moved away, almost turning her body around so that her back was to me. 

"Nicole, stop it, take off your shirt." I ordered, trying to be patient with her. 

"I'll be fine, Earp!" She practically growled. "I'm not weak!" 

"But you're human and mortal, so guess what? You can die!" My desire of being patient was gone. "I'm just trying to help you." 

"I didn't ask for your help." 

I honestly couldn't understand her. I was tired of the changes in her mood and behavior. Sometimes nice, saving and helping me. Sometimes, rude and harsh. 

I bit my lip hard, held her shoulders and made her turn to me. Nicole moaned in pain and I almost said 'well done'. In a quick movement, I sat on her thighs stretched out on the floor and held her chin with one hand, forcing her to look into my eyes. 

"I will only say it once, Haught." I said as firmly and threateningly as I could. "I don't care what you think or what you want. You are hurt and you need more medical care than a few doses of nectar. I'm not asking for your permission, I'll take care of you, whether you like it or not!" 

Nicole had her eyes wide open, she looked surprised and kind of defeated. I held on, not looking away for a second, barely blinking. She finally sighed, surrendering, and relaxing her shoulders, slowly raising her arms so that I could take off her shirt. I almost smiled victoriously but preferred to keep that tough posture.


End file.
